Exploring the relationship between environmental stressors, pharmacy residents stress and medication errors

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the relationship between perceived stress, environmental stressors, and self-reported medication errors for PGY1 and PGY2 pharmacy residents. Methods: A cross-sectional study design. An online questionnaire survey was sent to pharmacy residency program directors asking residents to participate. The primary objective is to evaluate the correlation between the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), self-reported medication errors among pharmacy residents, and the impact of environmental stressors on the perceived stress.Results: 524 pharmacy residents were included in the study. Pharmacy residents exhibiting high levels of Perceived stress scores reported high medication errors (p<0.001). Environmental stressors such as Time and Workload, Support, Personal, Career and Health were significant contributing factors to overall perceived stress. Conclusion:There is a positive relationship between stress levels and medication errors reported by pharmacy residents. Several environmental stressors contribute to their stress and medication errors. Further research is needed to validate the role of stress on medication errors in pharmacy residents.