BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Errors in handwritten medication orders are common and can result in patient harm. We evaluated an intervention for increasing safe prescribing by medical students. METHODS: We conducted a pre-post evaluation to evaluate a brief educational intervention to increase safe prescribing by medical students. Two 1-hr, small-group, interactive educational sessions for 3rd-year medical students were held 2 weeks apart at Washington University in St. Louis. Prescribing errors were measured with a verbal transcription test. RESULTS: Twenty-eight students participated. Following the intervention, the average number of error-free orders in the 10-order test increased 5-fold from 0.82 per student to 4.54 per student, and the average number of errors and dangerous errors per student decreased from 13.96 to 7.36 (p < .0001) and from 4.75 to 2.68 (p < .0001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: After a brief interactive educational intervention for medical students, the frequency of error-free handwritten orders increased, and prescribing errors decreased. Additional training may be required to further improve and maintain safe prescribing.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Errors in handwritten medication orders are common and can result in patient harm. We evaluated an intervention for increasing safe prescribing by medical students. METHODS: We conducted a pre-post evaluation to evaluate a brief educational intervention to increase safe prescribing by medical students. Two 1-hr, small-group, interactive educational sessions for 3rd-year medical students were held 2 weeks apart at Washington University in St. Louis. Prescribing errors were measured with a verbal transcription test. RESULTS: Twenty-eight students participated. Following the intervention, the average number of error-free orders in the 10-order test increased 5-fold from 0.82 per student to 4.54 per student, and the average number of errors and dangerous errors per student decreased from 13.96 to 7.36 (p < .0001) and from 4.75 to 2.68 (p < .0001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: After a brief interactive educational intervention for medical students, the frequency of error-free handwritten orders increased, and prescribing errors decreased. Additional training may be required to further improve and maintain safe prescribing.
Authors: N Celebi; K Kirchhoff; M Lammerding-Köppel; R Riessen; Peter Weyrich Journal: Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol Date: 2010-06-10 Impact factor: 3.000
Authors: José Luis Fernández-Alemán; Laura López-González; Ofelia González-Sequeros; Chrisina Jayne; Juan José López-Jiménez; Juan Manuel Carrillo-de-Gea; Ambrosio Toval Journal: J Med Syst Date: 2016-01-27 Impact factor: 4.460
Authors: J Tichelaar; M C Richir; H J Avis; H J Scholten; N F Antonini; Th P G M De Vries Journal: Eur J Clin Pharmacol Date: 2009-11-24 Impact factor: 2.953