{"title":"Reducing Medication Errors in an Ambulatory Medical Center.","authors":"Stacy Bentil, Tuba Sengül, Holly Kirkland-Kyhn","doi":"10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000856","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Medication errors are a significant problem in ambulatory care, occurring at any stage, from prescribing to administration.</p><p><strong>Local problem: </strong>Medication error rates due to interruptions were high on an ambulatory medical unit.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A quality improvement design was used for the project.</p><p><strong>Interventions: </strong>A Safe Zone protocol was developed by nurses, certified nursing assistants, and unit secretaries. Implementation included clear medication preparation areas, administration checklists, and staff and patient education.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The number of distractions decreased by 20% over a 90-day period. Medication errors decreased from a rate of 0.97 events per 1000 doses administered to a rate of 0.20 after implementing the Safe Zone protocol.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Due to its flexibility and adaptability, the Safe Zone protocol offers a template that can be replicated in environments needing to address similar issues.</p>","PeriodicalId":16931,"journal":{"name":"Journal of nursing care quality","volume":" ","pages":"332-337"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of nursing care quality","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000856","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/4/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Medication errors are a significant problem in ambulatory care, occurring at any stage, from prescribing to administration.
Local problem: Medication error rates due to interruptions were high on an ambulatory medical unit.
Methods: A quality improvement design was used for the project.
Interventions: A Safe Zone protocol was developed by nurses, certified nursing assistants, and unit secretaries. Implementation included clear medication preparation areas, administration checklists, and staff and patient education.
Results: The number of distractions decreased by 20% over a 90-day period. Medication errors decreased from a rate of 0.97 events per 1000 doses administered to a rate of 0.20 after implementing the Safe Zone protocol.
Conclusions: Due to its flexibility and adaptability, the Safe Zone protocol offers a template that can be replicated in environments needing to address similar issues.
期刊介绍：
Journal of Nursing Care Quality (JNCQ) is a peer-reviewed journal that provides practicing nurses as well as nurses who have leadership roles in nursing care quality programs with useful information regarding the application of quality principles and concepts in the practice setting. The journal offers a forum for the scholarly discussion of “real world” implementation of quality activities.
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