A Prospective Study to Evaluate Awareness among Healthcare Personnel about Medication Errors in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

ABSTRACT

Objectives:To evaluate awareness among health care personnel about medication errors in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: A questionnaire comprising of 17 questions pertaining to different aspects of medication error was prepared. The questionnaire was distributed to 171 healthcare professionals of various departments in the hospital. Respondents of the questionnaire were restricted to one sitting for answering the entire questionnaire and they were not allowed to consult with anyone for the purpose of answering the questions. Data was compiled and analysed. Results: It has been found that 15.78%, 32.15%, 19.29% and 30.72% of respondents were having excellent, good, average and poor knowledge respectively regarding the fundamentals of medication error. Knowledge regarding reporting medication errors was excellent in 26.37%, good in 26.90%, average in 24.56% and poor in 32.16% of respondents. About 63.15%, 18.12%, 7.60% and 11.09% of the healthcare professionals were excellent, good, average and poor for recommending or opine about the betterment of the system for reporting medication errors. Among the different healthcare professionals, Pharmacy personnel’s are having superior knowledge about the medication error, its reporting system and the suggestion for betterment of its reporting system followed by Nursing and Medical professionals. Conclusion:The present study reveals that all the healthcare professionals are having good to average awareness about medication errors and its reporting system and all the healthcare professionals are strongly suggesting for the betterment of the reporting system.

KEYWORDS

• Awareness
• Healthcare professionals
• Medication errors
• Questionnaire
• Reporting system

Showing references and in-text citations exactly as published.

• DOI10.5530/ijopp.12.4.52Copy

RELATED ARTICLES

Matched on section and article type within this issue of IJPP.

• Article · VOLUME 12, ISSUE 4Assessment of Inhalation Techniques in COPD and Asthma Patients using Metered Dose Inhaler and Rota-halerJalpa Suthar, Zalak A Patel, Bhavik Shelat · pp. 217–224Research ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 12, ISSUE 4Development of Point-of-care Paper Based Strip for the Detection of Simple Antipyretic-analgesic DrugsGVSR Pavan Kumar, K Srinivasa Rao · pp. 225–228Research ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 12, ISSUE 4Interventional Study Based on Prescription Errors in the Inpatient Units of a Tertiary Care Hospital in CalicutSuresh Arumugam, Sneha Prakash, Sreerag Azhakath, Lydia Abraham, Lakshmi Prakashan, Anusree Anaparakkal · pp. 229–233Research ArticleSame type: Article
• Article · VOLUME 12, ISSUE 4Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis: A Survey among the Medical Staff of Intensive Care Unit and Surgery Ward in Tertiary Care Teaching HospitalVinod Kumar, Shraddha P Devarshi · pp. 234–238Research ArticleSame type: Article