An observational study on incidence and severity of intravenous medication errors in south Indian Hospital

Aim: Intravenous medication errors are frequent events. They are associated with considerable harm, but little is known about their causes. The objective of the study was to find out the IV medication errors in medical, surgery, pediatric and ICU department of tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: An observational study using disguised observation was carried out for six months. Nurses were accompanied daily during IV drug rounds for 6 months. Details of each IV drug preparation and administration errors identified were recorded on a standard data entry form. Information came from observation and talking informally to the nursing staff. The details obtained were checked and completed for each IV drug within 24 hours of leaving the ward. Results: Each case of IV medication error was analyzed to identify the main active failure, and was recorded in the form. IV drugs prepared and administered for patients were observed during study period. One or more errors were occurred in the preparation of 421 out of 827 drug doses (50.90%). Preparation errors occurred in 110 IV doses (26.44%). Conclusion: The study found a high incidence of medication errors of IV drugs. It is also evident from the study that pharmacist intervention is effective in reducing in the number of IV medication errors.