Pharmacovigilance and Nursing context: “Nothing less than Safety”

Adverse drugs reactions are major public health concern in worldwide. Pharmacovigilance is a complex process of clinical and scientific discipline that ensures the safety of the medication and avoids adverse drug reactions. Poly-pharmacy, poly-physician, co-morbidities, drug administration errors, use of over the counters (OTCs) drugs, lack of awareness about medications are major cause of the reactions. India joined hand with WHO-UPPSALA in 1997 with the aim to improve the safety of drugs and health of the patients. Despite global concern regarding drug safety there is a lack of understanding and knowledge and reporting of Adversed Drug Reactions (ADRs) among health care professionals. Nurses serve as advocates for the health and safety of patients and may play a crucial role in the pharmacovigilance system & avoiding the mitigating the risks to the patient, promoting public health and determining and maintaining the safety of medicines. Nurses need appropriate knowledge and experience in the field of health care setting including early identification, management and reporting of medicine safety issues and should have a combination of pharmacovigilance training and participating in research studies.