Defining the Functional Requirements for the NFC-Based Medication Administration and Clinical Communication System

Failure to confirm the 'five rights' of medication administration, verify contraindications, and effectively communicate with healthcare professionals are three major causes of bedside medication administration (BMA). These causes can be addressed by developing an efficient system integrated with wireless technology such as Near Field Communication (NFC). The long-term purpose of this research is to design a sufficient NFC-based system to overcome the major causes of BMA errors. Before we can design the system, we must first determine its functional requirements. Therefore, in this paper, we used theoretical and practical sources to form a clear picture of the BMA procedure. We identified the essential methods used in nursing practice to ensure safe BMA, and their limitation. Accordingly, we drew an initial technical concept of the system functions that will help us design the system.