OBJECTIVES: To have health care professionals in nursing homes identify organizational-level and individual-level modifiable barriers to medication error reporting. DESIGN: Nominal group technique sessions to identify potential barriers, followed by development and administration of a 20-item cross-sectional mailed survey. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Representatives of 4 professions (physicians, pharmacists, advanced practitioners, and nurses) from 4 independently owned, nonprofit nursing homes that had an average bed size of 150, were affiliated with an academic medical center, and were located in urban and suburban areas. MEASUREMENTS: Barriers identified in the nominal group technique sessions were used to design a 20-item survey. Survey respondents used 5-point Likert scales to score factors in terms of their likelihood of posing a barrier ("very unlikely" to "very likely") and their modifiability ("not modifiable" to "very modifiable"). Immediate action factors were identified as factors with mean scores of <3.0 on the likelihood and modifiability scales, and represent barriers that should be addressed to increase medication error reporting frequency. RESULTS: In 4 nominal group technique sessions, 28 professionals identified factors to include in the survey. The survey was mailed to all 154 professionals in the 4 nursing homes, and 104 (67.5%) responded. Response rates by facility ranged from 55.8% to 92.9%, and rates by profession ranged from 52.0% for physicians to 100.0% for pharmacists. Most respondents (75.0%) were women. Respondents had worked for a mean of 9.8 years in nursing homes and 5.4 years in their current facility. Of 20 survey items, 14 (70%) had scores that categorized them as immediate action factors, 9 (64%) of which were organizational barriers. Of these factors, the 3 considered most modifiable were (1) lack of a readily available medication error reporting system or forms, (2) lack of information on how to report a medication error, and (3) lack of feedback to the reporter or rest of the facility on medication errors that have been reported. CONCLUSIONS: The study results provide a broad-based perspective of the barriers to medication error reporting in the nursing home setting. Efforts to improve medication error reporting frequency should focus on organizational-level rather than individual-level interventions.
OBJECTIVES: To have health care professionals in nursing homes identify organizational-level and individual-level modifiable barriers to medication error reporting. DESIGN: Nominal group technique sessions to identify potential barriers, followed by development and administration of a 20-item cross-sectional mailed survey. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Representatives of 4 professions (physicians, pharmacists, advanced practitioners, and nurses) from 4 independently owned, nonprofit nursing homes that had an average bed size of 150, were affiliated with an academic medical center, and were located in urban and suburban areas. MEASUREMENTS: Barriers identified in the nominal group technique sessions were used to design a 20-item survey. Survey respondents used 5-point Likert scales to score factors in terms of their likelihood of posing a barrier ("very unlikely" to "very likely") and their modifiability ("not modifiable" to "very modifiable"). Immediate action factors were identified as factors with mean scores of <3.0 on the likelihood and modifiability scales, and represent barriers that should be addressed to increase medication error reporting frequency. RESULTS: In 4 nominal group technique sessions, 28 professionals identified factors to include in the survey. The survey was mailed to all 154 professionals in the 4 nursing homes, and 104 (67.5%) responded. Response rates by facility ranged from 55.8% to 92.9%, and rates by profession ranged from 52.0% for physicians to 100.0% for pharmacists. Most respondents (75.0%) were women. Respondents had worked for a mean of 9.8 years in nursing homes and 5.4 years in their current facility. Of 20 survey items, 14 (70%) had scores that categorized them as immediate action factors, 9 (64%) of which were organizational barriers. Of these factors, the 3 considered most modifiable were (1) lack of a readily available medication error reporting system or forms, (2) lack of information on how to report a medication error, and (3) lack of feedback to the reporter or rest of the facility on medication errors that have been reported. CONCLUSIONS: The study results provide a broad-based perspective of the barriers to medication error reporting in the nursing home setting. Efforts to improve medication error reporting frequency should focus on organizational-level rather than individual-level interventions.
Authors: Carl A Sirio; Kenneth T Segel; Donna J Keyser; Edward I Harrison; Jon C Lloyd; Robert J Weber; Carlene A Muto; D Geoffrey Webster; Vickie Pisowicz; Karen Wolk Feinstein Journal: Health Aff (Millwood) Date: 2003 Sep-Oct Impact factor: 6.301
Authors: Deborah A Levine; Kenneth G Saag; Linda L Casebeer; Cathleen Colon-Emeric; Kenneth W Lyles; Richard M Shewchuk Journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc Date: 2006-07-17 Impact factor: 4.669
Authors: Donna B Jeffe; William Claiborne Dunagan; Jane Garbutt; Thomas E Burroughs; Thomas H Gallagher; Patricia R Hill; Carolyn B Harris; Kerry Bommarito; Victoria J Fraser Journal: Jt Comm J Qual Saf Date: 2004-09
Authors: Melissa A Clark; Anthony Roman; Michelle L Rogers; Denise A Tyler; Vincent Mor Journal: Eval Health Prof Date: 2014-02-04 Impact factor: 2.651
Authors: Harish Jasti; Heena Sheth; Margaret Verrico; Subashan Perera; Gregory Bump; Deborah Simak; Raquel Buranosky; Steven M Handler Journal: J Grad Med Educ Date: 2009-09