A root cause analysis project in a medication safety course.

OBJECTIVE: To develop, implement, and evaluate team-based root cause analysis projects as part of a required medication safety course for second-year pharmacy students.
DESIGN: Lectures, in-class activities, and out-of-class reading assignments were used to develop students' medication safety skills and introduce them to the culture of medication safety. Students applied these skills within teams by evaluating cases of medication errors using root cause analyses. Teams also developed error prevention strategies and formally presented their findings. ASSESSMENT: Student performance was assessed using a medication errors evaluation rubric. Of the 211 students who completed the course, the majority performed well on root cause analysis assignments and rated them favorably on course evaluations.
CONCLUSION: Medication error evaluation and prevention was successfully introduced in a medication safety course using team-based root cause analysis projects.