Macrodrip infusion dose error among nurses

Abstract

Background: Infusions must be administered as prescribed as too fast or slow a dose could have deleterious effects. Objectives: This study examined the risk for macrodrip infusion dose error among nurses in selected tertiary hospitals in southern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in five university teaching hospitals in 2019. To establish the drop factor of commonly available macrodrip sets, 25 macrodrip sets were randomly sourced from the hospitals' pharmacies. A sample of 291 nurses was selected using proportionate random sampling technique. Data were collected using the adult infusion dose calculation quiz. Collected data were described and analyzed at 5% level of significance. Results: About 20 (80%) of the sampled macrodrip sets revealed 20 drops/ml (gtts/ml) drop factor value displayed on the packaging. When measured experimentally, all (100%) of the macrodrip sets delivered exactly 20 gtts/ml. About 255 (87.6%) respondents calculated macrodrip infusion dose while using a wrong drop factor of 10–18 gtts/ml while an additional 12 (4.2%) could not arrive at the expected infusion dose due to formula and arithmetic anomalies. In all, 267 (91.8%) respondents demonstrated tendency for infusion dose calculation error. Nonattendance of training on infusion administration significantly increased the risk for error by 21% (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Twenty gtts/ml is the drop factor of common macrodrip sets in southern Nigeria, and nurses were prone to infusing patients at a lower dose than prescribed. Attending training on infusion therapy might remedy this malady.

Keywords

• infusion
• medication error
• nurses