Medication error encouragement training: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Background: Medication errors are the most common clinical errors in healthcare practice and can lead to serious consequences. Medication error encouragement training (MEET) brings students face-to-face with potential errors in the medication process, in a safe environment where they are encouraged to understand both the error and the context in which it occurred.

Objectives: The study aimed to examine the effects of a MEET intervention on medication safety confidence among nursing undergraduates.

Design: This was a quasi-experimental study with a nonequivalent control group design.

Participants: Our sample was recruited from the nursing education department of a university, with 47 participants randomly assigned to the experimental group, and 50 to the control group.

Methods: Both groups received theoretical training, followed by applied training. The experimental group received the MEET intervention developed specifically for this study, while the control group received traditional error avoidance training. Participants' medication administration confidence was measured pre- and post-intervention.

Results: Following training, the experimental group's confidence was significantly higher than that of the control group. With regard to individual medication administration procedures, the experimental groups' medication safety confidence increased significantly after training compared to the control group in patient identification, drug information confirmation, and drug preparation.

Conclusions: Introducing MEET into nursing curricula could reduce medication errors and related complications in healthcare institutions. Further studies are needed to investigate the long-term effects of MEET interventions, as well as the generalizability of our findings.

Keywords: Education; Medication errors; Nursing students; Safety.