The aim of this overview was to examine the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve patient safety by reducing medication administration errors using data from systematic reviews.
Medication administration errors remain unacceptably high despite the introduction of a range of interventions aimed at enhancing patient safety. Systematic reviews of strategies designed to improve medication safety report contradictory findings. A critical appraisal and synthesis of these findings are, therefore, warranted.
A comprehensive three-step search strategy was employed to search across 10 electronic databases. Two reviewers independently examined the methodological rigour and scientific quality of included systematic reviews using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews protocol.
Sixteen systematic reviews were eligible for inclusion. Evidence suggest that multifaceted approaches involving a combination education and risk management strategies and the use of bar code technology are effective in reducing medication errors.
More research is needed to determine the benefits of routine double-checking of medications during administration by nurses, outcomes of self-administration of medications by capable patients, and associations between interruptions and medications errors.
Medication-related incidents must be captured in a way that facilitates meaningful categorisation including contributing factors, potential and actual/risk of harm and contextual information on the incident.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
11
5%
Unspecified
6
3%
Computer Science
5
2%
Other
18
9%
Unknown
69
34%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 June 2016.
All research outputs
#6,875,065
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Nursing Management
#315
of 1,234 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#93,834
of 323,883 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Nursing Management
#5
of 25 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,371,288 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,234 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 74% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 323,883 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 25 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its contemporaries.
