To Evaluate the Frequency and the Factors Contributing to Medication Errors in Critical Care Areas of A Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Observational Study

Abstract

Objective. Medication errors are unintended but prominent failures in prescribing, dispensing, and administrating medications. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of medication errors and to identify the various factors contributing to medication errors in critical care areas of the hospital.

Method. This study was a prospective observational in nature which was conducted in the critical care areas of a tertiary care hospital. A checklist was developed and data was collected by reviewing prescriptions, medication charts and observing nurses during medication preparation. The data collected was analysed and the frequency was calculated. In addition to this, the fisher’s exact test was applied to depict a non-random association between frequency and factors found.

Results. Out of 300 medication orders studied, 4.7% had illegible handwriting in prescription and 3.7% had the wrong dose and drug name in the prescription and the factor responsible for the majority of these was non-adherence to policies and procedures. 2% of orders were not transcribed for the right dose and 1.7% were not transcribed for the right schedule. 1.4% errors were because of the wrong drug preparation technique. In 4.7% of cases, medication was not administered on time, and in 12% of cases, the charts were not timely signed. Certain miscellaneous factors had a significant relationship (P< 0.005) with prescription, transcription, and documentation error frequency.

Conclusion. The research findings indicate that the major factors responsible for errors in critical care areas are non-adherence to established policies and procedures and stressful working conditions. Therefore, effective strategies for policy implementation are necessary to enhance patient safety in critical care areas of healthcare settings.