Factors Contributing to Medication Errors in a Tertiary Care Private Hospital, Karachi

Volume 7 Issue 3 August - October 2017

Research Paper

Factors Contributing to Medication Errors in a Tertiary Care Private Hospital, Karachi

Sehrish Sajjad*, Ambreen Gowani**, Anyla Kazmi***, Shireen Mansoor****

* Instructor, Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan.

** Senior Instructor, Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan.

*** Manager, Quality Assurance, Dr. Ziauddin University Hospital, Pakistan.

**** Medical Superintendent, Dr. Ziauddin University Hospital, Pakistan.

Sajjad,S., Gowani,A., Kazmi,A., and Mansoor,S. (2017). Factors Contributing to Medication Errors in a Tertiary Care Private Hospital, Karachi. i-manager’s Journal on Nursing, 7(3), 28-35. https://doi.org/10.26634/jnur.7.3.13789

Abstract

Medication management requires multidisciplinary collaboration among nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and others. Nurses play an important role in the final step of the process and can elicit a critical role in its prevention. In an effort to prevent medication errors committed by nurses at a hospital, the authors conducted a study to identify frequency, types, and perceived factors of medication errors. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed in a private tertiary care hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. A sample of 119 nurses were recruited from different units of the hospital. Perceived facilitating factors for medication safety and contributing factors for medication errors were identified using researcherdeveloped self-reported questionnaire. The prevalence of medication errors was found to be 21%. More than half of the reported errors by nurses (52%) occurred within six months of their clinical practice and during their night shifts (56%). The most prevalent type of error was administering wrong dose to a patient (48%). Factors that were perceived to contribute to medication errors were: documentation by nurses prior to medication administration (54.6%), shortage of nursing staff (32.8%), and environmental interruptions during medication preparation (26.3%). Factors which were perceived to enhance medication safety included: appropriately labeled medications by pharmacists (55.5%), delivery of precalculated doses from pharmacy (63.9%), and preparation of medications solely by the assigned nurse (51.3%) Providing electronic medication administration system is a key in limiting and preventing medication errors committed at any phase of the medication management process.