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Hong KongTypes of errors
Errors are categorized by what went wrong: wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong form or route, wrong quantity, wrong label, or an omission.
On this page7 sections
A named knowledge area, and the categories matter because each one has a different control.
The categories
- Wrong drug, often a look-alike sound-alike selection
- Wrong dose or strength
- Wrong patient
- Wrong dosage form or route
- Wrong quantity
- Wrong or incomplete labeling, including directions
- Omission, where something that should have been dispensed was not
- Wrong time, where timing matters clinically
Why naming it matters
A wrong-drug error caused by similar names is addressed by tall man lettering and separation. A wrong-dose error is addressed by standardized concentrations and double checks. A wrong-patient error is addressed by identity verification. Questions asking what should be done are frequently answerable only once you have named what went wrong.
Where in the process
Errors are also classified by stage: prescribing, transcribing or order entry, dispensing, and administration.
A technician's exposure is concentrated in order entry and dispensing, which is where most exam scenarios sit.
Near misses
An error caught before it reaches the patient. It should still be reported, because it reveals the same system weakness as one that got through.
A question about whether to report a near miss resolves to yes, and the reasoning is that next time the same weakness may not be caught.
Errors that reach the patient without harm
Also reportable. The absence of harm was often luck rather than design, and the reporting system exists to find the design problem.
What a technician does
Report it, accurately and promptly, and do not attempt to resolve the clinical consequence. That is the pharmacist's.
Near miss: the error is intercepted before reaching the patient
A near miss is a medication-related safety event that does not reach the patient, often because a technician, pharmacist, or another system check catches it in time. A wrong strength selected during filling and corrected before pickup is a near miss; the same product dispensed and used is an error that reached the patient, whether or not harm followed. A harmful medication error is a separate outcome category.
Report near misses through the pharmacy’s event-reporting process. Record what happened, where it was caught, and the contributing conditions, while following privacy and workplace procedures. Near-miss reports can reveal look-alike packaging, confusing computer choices, interruptions, workflow gaps, or unclear handoffs before a patient is harmed.
The purpose of review is to improve the process, not to assign blame automatically. A root-cause analysis asks how the system allowed the event and what barriers could prevent recurrence. For exam questions, distinguish the event (the error), whether it reached the patient, whether harm occurred, and how the event should be reported.
Common questions
What are the types of prescription errors?
Wrong drug, dose, patient, form or route, quantity, label, timing, and omissions.
Why does the category matter?
Each category points at a different control, and questions often require naming the error first.
What is a near miss?
An error caught before reaching the patient. It should still be reported.
Should a no-harm error be reported?
Yes. The absence of harm is often luck rather than design.
What does a technician do?
Report accurately and promptly, and refer the clinical consequence to the pharmacist.