For many patients, the scariest part of being in the hospital is having to rely on other people to control their life-changing decisions. Much of this is due to the medications we receive while in our care. I can only imagine what it must be like for a patient to have a stranger come up to me and start administering medication. It would be especially scary if I didn't know what these medications did or what negative effects might be caused by taking them. Unfortunately, the fear of medication errors that many patients experience is not unfounded. Estimates vary between 1.5 and 66 million patients per year who experience medication errors while in the care of healthcare professionals. Given all the technology we have today, you would think we would be beyond this magnitude of errors by now. However, one must always consider the human element involved in all of these situations. I recently read an article trying to understand how to eliminate as many medication errors as possible. The article titled ASHP Guidelines for Preventing Medication Errors in Hospitals describes many different paths that individuals and organizations can take to reduce the occurrence of medication errors. Overall, I have to say that I agree with most of the methods described in the writing. One of the most notable suggestions I read was in the Organizational and Departmental Recommendations section. It stated: “Care and consideration must be given when hiring and assigning personnel involved in ordering, preparation, distribution, administration and patient education. Policies and procedures should be developed to ensure adequate selection, training, supervision and supervision of personnel. .. middle of paper ......s is human nature. We will never be perfect for the simple reason that it is not in our nature to be, however, the main thing we can do is to continually work. different solutions that will improve our capabilities in the future. Either that or design a foolproof computer system that can order, calculate and administer all medications without error. However, I don't see us as humans being willing to give that much. control of a machine designed by imperfect beings. Works Cited Aleccia, J. (2010). Medications that look and sound alike trigger dangers. ASHP Guidelines on Preventing Medication Errors in Hospitals. Drug Mishaps, 129-137. Bates, D. W. (1998). The impact of computerized physician order entry on the prevention of medication errors. Jamia , 1-175.