Thesis (Master of Nursing)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / One of the most important issues in the provision of healthcare services which threaten the patient's safety, is medication administration errors. These could compromise patient safety and may lead to patient disability or even death, besides the financial cost of these errors. Nurses are responsible for administering medication to numerous patients. They thus are the last defence line against medication administration errors. All student nurses are trained very early in their courses on how to administer medication and all the complications and implications that accompany this important procedure. Although lecturers spend time and effort in teaching nursing students about protocols for safe medication administration, nurses still commit medication administration errors. The aim of the study was to determine awareness and perception of the occurrence and reporting of medication administration errors (MAEs) among nursing students. A descriptive quantitative design was employed. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Responses were collected from 291 nursing students at a higher education institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. Nonprobability proportional quota sampling was used in this study for data collection. Data was analysed with IBM SPSS® software. Data was presented in graphs, percentages, means, and standard deviation, while inferential statistics were conducted. The findings of the study reveal that 85.2% of the respondents were aware of MAE occurrence, but 40.1% were unaware of reporting of these errors. The top and most significant subscale for MAE occurrence was the physician communication subscale, while the top and only significant barrier to reporting these errors was the fear subscale. In conclusion, most of the respondents were aware of MAE occurrence, while more than a third were unaware of the reporting of these errors. The study recommended building non-punitive blame-free reporting systems to emphasise the importance of reporting errors.

Objective: Medicine administration is the last process of the medication cycle. However, errors can happen during this process. Children are at an increased risk from these errors. This has been extensively investigated but evidence is lacking on effective interventions. Therefore, the aim of this research is to propose safety measures to reduce medication administration errors (MAE) in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Method: The research was carried out over five studies; 1) systematic literature review, 2) national survey of PICU medication error interventions, 3) retrospective analysis of medication error incidents, 4) prospective observation of the administration practice, and 5) survey of PICU healthcare professionals' opinions on MAE contributory factors and safety measures. Results: Hospital MAE in children found in literature accounted for a mean of 50% of all reported medication error reports (n= 12552). It was also identified in a mean of 29% of doses observed (n= 8894). This study found MAE retrospectively in 43% of all medication incidents (n= 412). Additionally, a total of 269 MAEs were observed (32% per dose observation). The characteristics of the interventions used to reduce MAE are diverse but it illustrated that a single approach is not enough. Also for an intervention to be a success it is fundamental to build a safety culture. This is achieved by developing a culture of collaborative learning from errors without assigning blame. Furthermore, MAE contributing factors were found to include; interruptions, inadequate resources, working conditions and no pre-prepared infusions. The following safety measures were proposed to reduce MAE; 1) dose banding, 2) improved lighting conditions, 3) decision support tool with calculation aid, 4) use of pre-prepared infusions, 5) enhance the double-checking process, 6) medicine administration checklist, and 7) an intolerant culture to interruption. Conclusion: This is one of the first comprehensive study of to explore MAE in PICU from different perspectives. The aim and objectives of the research were fulfilled. Future research includes the need to implement the proposed safety measures and evaluate them in practice.