Assessments of Magnitude and Contributing Factors of Medication Administration Error Among Nurses in Tertiary Hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2018.
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Date
2018-06
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Background: Unsafe medication practices are the leading causes of avoidable patient harm in healthcare systems across the world. Errors made during medication administration are the commonest one. Nurses play a significant role in the occurrence as well as in the preventions of medication administration errors. However, only a few relevant studies were conducted in Ethiopia to assess this problem.
Objective: To assess the magnitude and contributing factors of medication administration error among nurses in tertiary care hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2018.
Methods: A hospital-based, cross-sectional study design was conducted in Addis Ababa tertiary hospitals. A simple random sampling method was used to select 303 study participants. The data were collected using structured and pre-tested self-administered questionnaire; and semi-structured and pre-tested observational checklist from February to March 2018. The nurses were observed while administering medications continuously for 48 hours. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics and binary logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with medication administration errors. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study findings were presented by using tables, figures, and charts.
Result: A total of 298 nurses participated in this study with a 98.3 % response rate. From those respondents 203 (68.1%) nurses made medication administration error in the last 12 months. There is a significant association between medication administration errors and lack of training [AOR=3.16; 95% CI (1.67,6)], unavailability of guideline [AOR=2.07; 95% CI (1.06,4.06)], work experience [AOR = 6.48; 95% CI (1.32,31.78)], interruption during medication administration [AOR = 2.42, 95 % CI (1.3,4.49)] and night duty shift [AOR = 5, 95 % CI (1.82, 13.78)] at p-value <0.05.
Conclusion and recommendation: Medication administration error in Addis Ababa tertiary hospitals was highly prevalent. This study showed that there is a significant association between medication administration error and factors such as work experience, night shift, lack of training, unavailability of guideline and interruption during medication administration. Develop appropriate guidelines for safe medication administration, providing continuous training, minimizing distracters during medication administration and retaining experienced nurses would be helpful for minimizing medication administration errors.
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Keywords
Medication errors, Magnitude, Nurses, administration