Medication Administration Error Perceptions Among Critical Care Nurses: A Cross-Sectional, Descriptive Study

Abstract

Majdi M Alzoubi,1 Asmaa Al-Mahasneh,1 Khalid Al-Mugheed,2 Marwa Al Barmawi,1 Samira Ahmed Alsenany,3 Sally Mohammed Farghaly Abdelaliem4 1Faculty of Nursing, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan; 2College of Nursing, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Community Health Nursing, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Nursing Management and Education, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Majdi M Alzoubi, Faculty of Nursing, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, Email [email protected] Khalid Al-Mugheed, College of Nursing, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Email [email protected]: This study aimed to investigate the medication administration error perceptions among Jordanian critical care nurses.Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used among Jordanian critical care nurses. The total number of completed questionnaires submitted for analysis was 340. Data were collected between July and August 2022 in two health sectors (governmental hospitals and educational hospital) in the middle and north region in Jordan through a self-administered questionnaire on medication administration errors which includes 65 items with three parts.Results: Nurses showed negative perceptions toward medication administration errors. The majority of participants agreed that “The packaging of many medications is similar” (76.7%), followed by “different medications look alike” (76.2%), as the main reasons for medication error occurrence. Two thirds of participants agreed that “when med errors occur, nursing administration focuses on the individual rather than looking at the systems as a potential cause of the error” (74.1%). Similarly, 73.5% of them believed nurses were blamed if something happens to the patient as a result of the medication error was the main reason for underreporting of MAEs. The highest reported levels of medication errors were in a range between 41% and 70%, for both types intravenous (IV) medication errors and non-intravenous (non-IV) medication errors.Conclusion: Implement interventions centered on MAEs in particular among critical care nurses, owing to the proven significance of it in foretelling their crucial role in delivering safe care to patients, which will lead to quantifiable returns on both patient outcomes and nurse health, as well as the overall efficiency and image of the organization.Keywords: medication administration errors, critical care nurses, perceptions, underreporting

Keywords

• medication administration errors
• critical care nurses
• perceptions
• under-reporting.