Causes of medication errors in intensive care units from the perspective of healthcare professionals

Farzi, Sedigheh; Irajpour, Alireza; Saghaei, Mahmoud; Ravaghi, Hamid

doi:10.4103/jrpp.jrpp_17_47

Cited by 45 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Poor communication and collaboration [ 7 ], lack of knowledge, and inadequate training were among the main causes of nursing errors in ICUs [ 8 ]. Studies have shown the lack of communication skills in nurses and nursing students [ 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of nurse empowerment educational program on patient safety culture: a randomized controlled trial

2018

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BackgroundThe complexity of patients’ condition and treatment processes in intensive care units (ICUs) predisposes patients to more hazardous events. Effective patient safety culture is related to lowering the rate of patients’ complications and fewer adverse events. The present study aimed to determine the effect of empowering nurses and supervisors through an educational program on patient safety culture in adult ICUs.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was conducted during April–September 2015 in 6 adult ICUs at Namazi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. A total of 60 nurses and 20 supervisors were selected through proportional stratified sampling and census, respectively, and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The intervention consisted of a two-day workshop, hanging posters, and distributing pamphlets that covered topics such as patient safety, patient safety culture, speak up about safety issues, and the skills of Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety. Data were collected through a hospital survey on patient safety culture. Eventually, 61 participants completed the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, and Chi-square test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsIn the experimental group, the total post-test mean scores of the patient safety culture (3.46 ± 0.26) was significantly higher than that of the control group (2.84 ± 0.37, P < 0.001). It was also higher than that of the pre-test (2.91 ± 0.4, P < 0.001). Additionally, significant improvements were observed in 5 out of 12 dimensions in the experimental group. However, dimensions such as non-punitive response to errors and the events reported did not improve significantly.ConclusionEmpowering nurses and supervisors could improve the overall patient safety culture. Nonetheless, additional actions are required to improve areas such as reporting the events and non-punitive response to errors.Trial registrationIRCT2015053122494N1. Date registered: March 2, 2016.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of nurse empowerment educational program on patient safety culture: a randomized controlled trial

2018

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“…The poor communication between nurse and physician increase the medication errors (21). Farzi also reported that lack of professional communication and collaboration can cause medication error (24).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers to Nursing Performance from the Perspective of Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units

Rajaeian¹,

MasoudiAlavi²

2018

Crit Care Nurs J

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Background: There are many performance obstacles in intensive care units (ICU) that can waste a nurse's time and energy. Detection and elimination of these obstacles can improve efficacy in ICUs. Objectives: This study was carried out to identify the performance obstacles experienced by nurses in ICUs of selected hospitals in Kashan/Iran, 2015. Methods: In this descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, all 80 nurses working in ICUs reported their performance obstacles in 240 working shifts. The research instrument had 2 parts: 1-information of nurses and their working shift; 2-nursing performance obstacles questionnaire of Gurses. The questionnaire evaluates performance obstacles in 4 dimensions of environment, task, technology, and organization. The data analyzed with the descriptive and analytical statistics including Mann-Whitney U and Krukall-Wallis tests, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS 16. Results: The most common obstacles were: receiving too many phone calls from family members (75%), delay in getting medications from pharmacy (54.6%), insufficient space to sit down and do paperwork (52.9%), and disorganized unit (51.6%). In the field of technology, having to use equipment in poor condition (35%) was the most frequent obstacle. Delay in seeing new medical orders (48.3%) and inadequate information from physicians (30.4%) were other common obstacles. The nurses with less than 3 years of experience working in ICUs, those working morning shifts, and nurses who had admitted more patients reported significantly more obstacles. Conclusions: Nursing performance obstacles were different. Many obstacles such as receiving too many phone calls and having to use equipment in poor condition can be managed by simple interventions such as using technology to give information to the family members. Management policies and enhancing team works are needed to reduce obstacles such as inadequate information from physicians and disorganized unit. We need further studies, to evaluate how the elimination of these obstacles can improve the nursing care in ICUs.

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“…The incidence of medication errors in sectors such as emergency rooms and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) is higher due to a large number of patients [15,16]. In particular, patients who admitted to ICUs receive medications mostly through their veins [17] that often requires calculation of infusion drop rate [18]. On the other hand, these patients are mostly in poor condi-…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Factors Contributing to Medication Errors in Intensive Care Units

Kaboodmehri¹,

Hasavari²,

Adib³

et al. 2019

J. Holist. Nurs. Midwifery

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Medication errors are one of the most common types of medical errors. In Intensive Care Units, because of its special circumstances, the risk of such errors is increasing. There are several causes for the medication errors of nurses, including environmental factors. Objective: The current study aimed at determining environmental factors contributing to medication errors based on the perceptions of ICU nurses. Materials and Methods: The current analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 281 nurses working in special care units ICU of hospitals affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2014. Nurses' perspectives of environmental factors were investigated using a two-part researcher-designed questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Results: Two factors with a predictive power of 68.32% remained as the most important environmental factors. The first factor explained 36.47% of the total variance of medication errors and the second factor explained 31.84%. The first factor consisted of three variables of "poor lighting", "high noise levels", and "inappropriate room temperature", while the second factor included the variables of "high number of patients", "lack of equipment for injection and drop-rate setting", and "inadequate space for medication preparation". Among these variables, poor lighting with a factor loading of 0.89 was reported as the most important environmental factor contributing to medication errors. Conclusion: Since poor lighting, high noise levels, and inappropriate room temperature were determined as the most contributing environmental factors to medication errors, it is recommended that managers and authorities of hospitals prevent and mitigate medication errors and improve patient's safety by modifying environmental conditions.

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Causes of medication errors in intensive care units from the perspective of healthcare professionals

Cited by 45 publications

References 37 publications

The effect of nurse empowerment educational program on patient safety culture: a randomized controlled trial

The effect of nurse empowerment educational program on patient safety culture: a randomized controlled trial

Barriers to Nursing Performance from the Perspective of Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units

Environmental Factors Contributing to Medication Errors in Intensive Care Units

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