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RESEARCH GRID

Etchells , E . Juurlink , D and W . Levinson (2008 . Medication errors : the human factor . CMAJ . 2008 January 1 178 (1 : 63-64

Purpose of the study- to identify factors that are associated with medication errors that may be prevented

of the sample population- the sample consists of health care professionals such as nurses , pharmacists , pharmacy technicians and physicians

Research design and level of evidence- the method utilized by the researchers was direct observation of participants . Chromatography was utilized to achieve the measurement of the concentration of morphine in each

infusion prepared by the participant

Measurement tools- Direct observation , Chromatography , x- test , analysis of variance

Findings - the researchers reported that 34 .7 percent of the infusions prepared have a 10 deviation from the intended concentration Furthermore , since the infusion of morphine requires drug-volume calculations , it was found out that 3 of the participants had 2-fold errors in calculation while 1 .2 had 10-fold errors in calculating for the infusion

Limitations : findings may have a limited generalizability and participants are aware that they were being observed

Strengths- the data that was generated is an objective and integrated evaluation of several aspects of the process of medication preparation

Implications- findings of the study include high rates of error in the preparation of intravenous medications and that these errors are very common . The researchers propose that simplifying the steps and standardization may decrease the occurrence of errors and promote patient safety...