Background
The elderly use a large number of medications, which exposes them to an increased
risk for medication-related errors, especially in nursing homes.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of an educational session addressing
good medication administration practices on the medication administration error rate
in 2 nursing homes.
Method
A before-after study was performed, comparing outcome measurements 1 month before
and 1 month after implementation of a formal training session on “good medication
administration principles.” Medication administration errors were detected using a
direct observation method. Two experts (a geriatrician and a clinical pharmacist)
scored the clinical relevance of these errors. The study was carried out between March
2007 and June 2007.
Results
In both nursing homes, the overall error rate (preparation errors and administration
errors) decreased after the intervention. This decrease was significant both in nursing
home 1 (P < .001) and nursing home 2 (P = .049). None of the observed errors was rated highly likely to cause harm according
to the experts.
Conclusion
An educational session about good medication administration practices provided by
a pharmacist is a very simple way to decrease medication administration error rates
and to raise awareness on the possible clinical significance of the errors.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 05, 2010
Footnotes
The authors have no conflicts of interest pertaining to this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 American Medical Directors Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
