Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
An-Najah BioSciences Unit, Centre for Poisons Control, Chemical and Biological Analyses, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
BMC Pediatr. 2022 May 30;22(1):317. doi: 10.1186/s12887-022-03379-y.
Neonatal intensive care units are high-risk settings where medication errors can occur and cause harm to this fragile segment of patients. This multicenter qualitative study was conducted to describe medication errors that occurred in neonatal intensive care units in Palestine from the perspectives of healthcare providers.
This exploratory multicenter qualitative study was conducted and reported in adherence to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research checklist. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals (4 pediatricians/neonatologists and 11 intensive care unit nurses) who provided care services for patients admitted to neonatal intensive care units in Palestine. An interview schedule guided the semi-structured in-depth interviews. The qualitative interpretive description approach was used to thematically analyze the data.
The total duration of the interviews was 282 min. The healthcare providers described their experiences with 41 different medication errors. These medication errors were categorized under 3 categories and 10 subcategories. Errors that occurred while preparing/diluting/storing medications were related to calculations, using a wrong solvent/diluent, dilution errors, failure to adhere to guidelines while preparing the medication, failure to adhere to storage/packaging guidelines, and failure to adhere to labeling guidelines. Errors that occurred while prescribing/administering medications were related to inappropriate medication for the neonate, using a different administration technique from the one that was intended, and administering a different dose from the one that was intended. Errors that occurred after administering the medications were related to failure to adhere to monitoring guidelines.
In this multicenter study, pediatricians/neonatologists and neonatal intensive care unit nurses described medication errors occurring in intensive care units in Palestine. Medication errors occurred in different stages of the medication process: preparation/dilution/storage, prescription/administration, and monitoring. Further studies are still needed to quantify medication errors occurring in the neonatal intensive care units and investigate if the designed strategies could be effective in minimizing the medication errors.
新生儿重症监护病房是高风险环境，药物错误在此类脆弱患者中可能发生并造成伤害。本多中心定性研究旨在从医护人员的角度描述巴勒斯坦新生儿重症监护病房发生的药物错误。
本探索性多中心定性研究按照定性研究报告的统一标准清单进行报告和实施。对在巴勒斯坦新生儿重症监护病房提供护理服务的医护人员（4 名儿科医生/新生儿科医生和 11 名重症监护病房护士）进行半结构化深入访谈。半结构化深入访谈采用访谈提纲进行指导。采用定性解释描述方法对数据进行主题分析。
访谈总时长为 282 分钟。医护人员描述了他们在 41 种不同药物错误中的经历。这些药物错误分为 3 类和 10 个子类别。在配制/稀释/储存药物过程中发生的错误与计算、使用错误的溶剂/稀释剂、稀释错误、在配制药物时不遵守指南、不遵守储存/包装指南以及不遵守标签指南有关。在开处方/给药过程中发生的错误与给新生儿开不适当的药物、使用与预期不同的给药技术以及给予与预期不同的剂量有关。在给药后发生的错误与不遵守监测指南有关。
在这项多中心研究中，儿科医生/新生儿科医生和新生儿重症监护病房护士描述了在巴勒斯坦重症监护病房发生的药物错误。药物错误发生在药物处理的不同阶段：配制/稀释/储存、处方/给药和监测。仍需要进一步的研究来量化新生儿重症监护病房发生的药物错误，并研究设计的策略是否可以有效减少药物错误。
