Effect of Medication Safety Guidelines on Prevention of Medication Errors among Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Background: Problems with medication are often referred to medication errors. Its effect on patient results in harm as it can vary widely. This depends on the particular knowledge and practices of nurses, as well as how the problem is picked up. Both serious and non-serious errors are often referred to as preventable incidents. So, medication errors that are commonly occurring among nurses in the intensive care units (ICU) can be prevented by improving nursing performance during the medication administration process. Aim: To assess the effect of medication safety guidelines on prevention of medication errors among nurses in the intensive care unit. Setting: This study was conducted at Kfr elsheikh University Hospital, in three main units Medical, surgical & Cardiac ICUs. Sampling: A convenient sample of 59 nurses working in the mentioned setting. Tools: Two tools were used for data collection. First tool: A self-administered questionnaire consisted of two parts. Part I concerned with nurses' demographic data. Part II concerned with nurses' knowledge assessment. Second tool: Nurses' practice observational checklist. Results: There was a highly significant difference between pre and post intervention using medication safety guidelines in relation to knowledge (p value= 0.000), practice (p value = 0.000) and medication errors (p value = 0.000) Conclusion: The application of medication safety guidelines had a statistically significant positive effect on the studied nurses' knowledge and practice and consequently decreased the frequency rate of all medication errors' types; which support the stated research hypothesis. Recommendations: The study recommended that; arranging continuous educational programs for nurses, construction of training endeavours based on the identified gaps to respond to unmet needs of nurses, and building a safety culture in health care setting.