Enhancing Medication Safety: Reducing Administration Errors in Oncology Setting

Abstract

Purpose: This project aimed to minimize medication errors and improve safe medication administration in an oncology setting in Muscat, Oman. Methods: The study, spanning from the second quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, employed a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, assessing key performance indicators (medication error and medication administration errors rates per 1000 patient days) on quarterly basis before and after implementing targeted interventions. Interventions focused on medication management processes and Healthcare Informatics System (HIS), Environment and equipment, and Education The project utilized the FOCUS PDCA (find, organize, clarify, understand, select, plan, do, check and act) methodology. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Board. Results: The results showed significant reductions were observed in both medication error and medication administration error rates following the implementation of interventions. Specifically, the medication error rate decreased from 12.59 in the Second Quarter of 2022 (pre-intervention) to 5.26 in the Fourth Quarter of 2023 (post-intervention), with an overall ANOVA F-value of 9.2950 (p = 0.035). Similarly, the medication administration error rate declined from 5.39 to 1.29 over the same period, resulting in an ANOVA F-value of 8.2320 (p = 0.044). Conclusion: The study indicates a significant improvement in patient safety outcomes following the intervention implementation, underscoring the effectiveness of the interventions in reducing medication errors and administration errors.