The impact of Interruptions on Medication Errors in Hospitals: A Direct Observational Study of Nurses

Abstract

Aim: Aim this study is to observe the existence of interruptions during drug preparation as well as administration including the cause of interruptions, time taken from the primary purpose (drug administration), secondary activities performed and the extent of clinical. Background: Many researches on the frequency of occurrence of medication administration faults or errors have been conducted but only a few have examined the occurrence of drug administration associated variations from safe practice. During the medication administration cycle conducted by staff nurses in hospital surroundings, interruptions are common and have been shown to be correlated with an development in the occurrence and medication administration errors. Methodology: A observational study conducted. Convenient sampling technique used in this study. Inside a large government teaching hospital in Lahore, a suitability sample of six medical unit, surgical unit. Result: A significant association has been found between medication administration and medication preparation errors and interruption like talking with other health care personnel, patients or attendant queries, phone calls (p-value=<0.001). Nearly 96% of the study nurses who were interrupted during medication committed medication errors. During medication administration incidents, close monitoring of nurses culminated in 100 percent recorded medication administration activities. One third of the interruptions were by other nurses trying to share patient and process details, including asking queries, providing orders, recording details and finding support. Clinical and operational problems found in incidents relevant to drug administration. 72 percent of the reported drug incidents have been shown to involve administrative deficiencies. Conclusion: It is confirmed that interruptions sometimes arise and are related to operational deficiencies and clinical errors. There is an immediate need for instructional programs that reflect on the significance of interruptions, their connection with procedure malfunction and clinical negligence.