Safety Assessment of the Pharmacotherapy Process at the Nurse and Midwife Level – An Observational Study

Abstract

Purpose

Pharmacological errors are among the most common in the healthcare system. This study aimed to determine the level of safety of the pharmacotherapy process at the stage performed by nurses and midwives by indicating the key risk factors affecting patients’ safety.

Methods

A group of 1276 nurses and 136 midwives in Poland participated in the study. The survey was conducted in the period from May 2019 to August 2019. The original Nursing Risk in Pharmacotherapy (NURIPH) tool was used.

Results

The Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.832. The low legibility of the medical orders (item 1) was indicated as the highest risk. A mean of 4.50 means that this factor’s significance is assessed between “very significant” and “significant.” The communication between physician, nurse and midwife, time pressure, and work organization were also rated high (Items 2, 3, and 4). The averages for these factors are higher than 4, so their evaluation is more than “significant.”.

Conclusion

Nurses and midwives involved in the pharmacotherapy process are exposed to many ergonomic factors triggering risk. A huge problem is the lack of readability of medical orders, which may be a factor triggering a medical error.

Keywords:

• patient safety
• medication error
• NURIPH tool
• nurses and midwives
• pharmacotherapy
• risk management

Abbreviations

NCCMERP, National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention; NURIPH, Nursing Risk in Pharmacotherapy; RM, registered midwives; RN, registered nurse; WHO, World Health Organization.

Acknowledgments

There were no other contributors to the article than the authors as well as there was no writing assistance regarding our paper. The certified English language services were provided.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was conducted under a research project funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland as a statutory grant of the Wroclaw Medical University for maintaining research potential (no. SUB.E140.19.042).