Youn-Jung Son

Background: Medication administration errors are the most common type of error in pediatric medicine. Preventing medication errors is an important part of ensuring safe and quality patient care for pediatric patients. Few studies have described this issue from the perspective of the parents of pediatric patients. Purpose: This study describes parents’ administration of medication to their children at home and the understanding of these parents of adverse drug events (ADEs). Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data from 179 parents of pediatric patients at two pediatric units at a hospital and three children’s daycare centers in Korea. Data were collected from July to August 2012 using a self-reported questionnaire. Results: Participants reported administering antipyretics (94.4%), decongestants (89.4%), and antibiotics (77.7%) to their children at home. The major source of medication information was instruction sheets. Parents more commonly used dosing cups (43.6%) and droppers (32.9%) when administering liquid medication to children. Furthermore, 12.3% of the children experienced ADEs. Only 48% of the participants were provided information on ADEs, 15.1% were unsure about the recommended dosage, and 11.2% were unsure of the recommended method for administering the medication. Analysis of variance and post hoc tests showed that level of parental education and monthly income each had a significant impact on participant understanding of ADEs. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: This study suggests that parents should be educated about ways to avoid common medication errors in children. In addition, in the case of low-income families, home visits should be carried out to understand how to reduce home medication errors and provide drug-related information to parents. Strategies are needed to reduce pediatric home medication errors and minimize ADEs and to provide medication information to parents.

To identify reasons for medication administration errors (MAEs) and why they are unreported, and estimate the percentage of MAEs actually reported among hospital nurses. A cross-sectional survey design. Three university hospitals in three South Korean provinces. A total of 312 hospital staff nurses were included in this study. Medication administration errors. Actual MAEs were experienced by 217 nurses (69.6%) during their clinical career, whereas 149 nurses (47.8%) perceived that MAEs only occur less than 20% rate. MAEs occurred mostly during intravenous (IV) administrations. Nurses perceived that the most common reasons for MAEs were inadequate number of nurses in each working shift (4.88 ± 1.05) and administering drugs with similar names or labels (4.49 ± 0.94). The most prevalent reasons for unreported MAEs included fears of being blamed (4.36 ± 1.10) and having too much emphasis on MAEs as a measure of nursing care quality (4.32 ± 1.02). The three most frequent errors perceived by nurses for non-IV related MAEs included administering medications to the incorrect patients and incorrect medication doses and drug choices. The three most frequent IV related MAEs included incorrect infusion rates, patients and medication doses. Nurse-staffing adequacy could be helpful to prevent MAEs among nurses as well ongoing education, and training regarding safe medication administration using the problem-based simulation education. In addition, encouraging nurses to identify and report work related errors in a non-punitive milieu will increase error reporting.

Song Y, et al. J Korean Acad Nurs. 2015 Jun;45(3):323-328. http://dx.doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2015.45.3.323

Measurement of evidence-based practice (EBP) competence is a challenge in the health care setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (EBPQ). Data were collected from Korean clinical nurses (N = 801) who worked in acute care settings. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to assess its construct validity. Concurrent validity and internal consistence were also assessed. Findings identified that EFA revealed a three-factor solution with 64.4% of total variance explained. The factor loadings ranged from 0.431 to 0.900 for the 24 items. The instrument showed good reliability and concurrent validity with the Critical Thinking Disposition scale. CFA revealed that the Korean version of the EBPQ was acceptable. The Korean version of the EBPQ is a valid and reliable evaluation measure of EBP competencies of nurses in South Korea.

Lee SK, et al. Healthc Inform Res. 2014 Apr;20(2):125-134. http://dx.doi.org/10.4258/hir.2014.20.2.125

This intervention study was designed to examine whether a 12‐week psychoeducational intervention influenced recurrent cardiac events, symptom experience and treatment adherence of patients with coronary artery disease. Fifty‐eight patients were randomized to either the intervention or the control group. Measures were taken at baseline, after intervention, and at 6‐month follow‐up. Recurrent cardiac events included revascularization, rehospitalization, emergency room visits and mortality. Symptom experiences were measured using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire‐Korean and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Treatment adherence included health behaviours, routine check‐up and medication adherence. At 6‐month follow‐up, the intervention group had significantly better physical functions and lower anxiety and depressive symptoms. Treatment adherence was also significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group. No significant difference was noticed in the incidence of recurrent cardiac events between the groups. A longer follow‐up study is needed to determine the long‐term effects on the prevention of recurrent cardiac events.

Lee SK, et al. Healthc Inform Res. 2013 Mar;19(1):33-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.4258/hir.2013.19.1.33

Song EK, et al. J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2011 Dec;20(4):376-385. http://dx.doi.org/10.12934/jkpmhn.2011.20.4.376