Medication administration – Nursing workload in clinical inpatient units

Abstract

Objectives: To verify the number and types of drugs prescribed and administered by nursing technicians in inpatient units and discuss its implications for nursing workload and patient safety. Method: exploratory cross-sectional study carried out in three inpatient units of a university hospital in southern Brazil from December 2014 to March 2015. The sample consisted of 162 work schedules of nurses that provided direct care to patients in the referred units. Data was collected with a tool designed for this purpose and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results: the average number of doses prescribed per shift/technician was 60.45 (sd = 20.26) and administered was 34.50 (sd = 15.64). Sixteen different types of routes for administering the drugs were identified. Conclusion: The number and types of drugs prescribed and administered impact nursing workload and increase the risk of errors.