AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of nurses with regard to medication errors. BACKGROUND: Medication errors result in a significant proportion of the deaths related to avoidable medical errors in hospitals. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study. METHOD: This study was conducted on 243 nurses working in two state hospitals in Turkey. Data collection was by means of a questionnaire developed by the researchers. Medication errors were explored in three areas: types of error, contributing factors and reporting of errors. RESULT: Among the most frequent types of errors were administration of drugs not ordered by the doctor, administration of a drug prepared by someone else and administration of a drug to the wrong patient. Contributing factors for medication errors included 'having to write an order in place of the physician', and 'an oral request being given in a non-urgent situation'. CONCLUSION: These results show the need for a multi-disciplinary approach in the prevention of errors. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Hospital administrations should maintain adequate staffing levels. Improving medication error reporting is also imperative in order to enable nurses to document all errors and potential errors as adverse events.
AIM: The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of nurses with regard to medication errors. BACKGROUND: Medication errors result in a significant proportion of the deaths related to avoidable medical errors in hospitals. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study. METHOD: This study was conducted on 243 nurses working in two state hospitals in Turkey. Data collection was by means of a questionnaire developed by the researchers. Medication errors were explored in three areas: types of error, contributing factors and reporting of errors. RESULT: Among the most frequent types of errors were administration of drugs not ordered by the doctor, administration of a drug prepared by someone else and administration of a drug to the wrong patient. Contributing factors for medication errors included 'having to write an order in place of the physician', and 'an oral request being given in a non-urgent situation'. CONCLUSION: These results show the need for a multi-disciplinary approach in the prevention of errors. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Hospital administrations should maintain adequate staffing levels. Improving medication error reporting is also imperative in order to enable nurses to document all errors and potential errors as adverse events.
Authors: Pilar Fuster-Linares; Cristina Alfonso-Arias; Alberto Gallart Fernández-Puebla; Encarna Rodríguez-Higueras; Silvia García-Mayor; Isabel Font-Jimenez; Mireia Llaurado-Serra Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-04-12 Impact factor: 4.614