An exploration of registered nurse preparation for safe medication management
This descriptive study examined the perceptions of new graduate registered nurses (RNs) about medication error identification, causes, and reporting; as well as the nursing education and workplace orientation experiences they believed prepared them to safely manage medications. The study also explored how prelicensure RN nursing education and hospital orientation programs in North Carolina (NC) prepared nurses to manage medications safely. The theory of situated cognition provided the organizing framework. Data were collected from the three participant groups (new graduate RNs, schools of nursing, and hospitals) using online surveys, and respondents included 131 new graduate RNs, 35 schools of nursing, and 20 hospitals/hospital systems in NC.
Descriptive analyses of data from the modified Gladstone scale revealed that nurses were confident in their ability to identify and report a medication error, but inconsistently identified or reported errors when presented with medication management scenarios. Distinct differences were found between the content topics, teaching strategies, activities, and equipment used by nursing education and workplace orientation programs to teach or review medication management and what was identified as effective preparation experiences by new graduate RNs.
An opportunity for improvement in nurse preparation for safe medication management was identified based on the differences between nurse-reported effective experiences for safe medication management preparation and what is being provided by nursing education and orientation programs. Implementing teaching strategies students identified as effective, such as increasing interactive experiences, use of real-world case scenarios, and clinical problem-solving, into the classroom may create a better fit with current student learning styles and ultimately safer nursing care.
The author retains copyright.
This item has not gone through this repository's peer-review process, but has been accepted by the indicated university or college in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the specified degree.
| Type | Dissertation |
| Acquisition | Proxy-submission |
| Review Type | None: Degree-based Submission |
| Format | Text-based Document |
| Evidence Level | Other |
| Research Approach | Pilot/Exploratory Study |
| Keywords | medication management; New graduate registered nurse |
| CINAHL Subject(s) | New Graduate Nurses; Registered Nurses; Drug Administration; Medication Errors; Medication Errors--Prevention and Control |
| Grantor | The University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
| Advisor | Lewallen, Lynne Porter; Letvak, Susan A.; Bartlett, Robin; Kring, Daria L. |
| Level | PhD |
| Year | 2017 |
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subjects.
-
Impact of the Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) System on medication administration errors
Medication errors are the second most frequent cause of injury among all types of medical errors (Leape, et al., 1991). Of concern to nursing practice, medication administration errors (MAE) are second only to ordering ... -
The effect of nurses' use of a focused protocol to decrease distractions during medication administration
Medication administration errors (MAE) are often the result of system problems that lead to patient injury, increased hospital costs and nurses being blamed for the incident. Contributing factors include distractions, lack ... -
Automated medication dispensing cabinet and medication errors
The number of deaths due to medical errors in hospitals ranges from 44,000 to 98,000 yearly. More than 7,000 of these deaths have taken place due to medication errors. This project evaluated the implementation of an automated ... -
Interventions To reduce medication errors
(2017-09-22)Medication errors are the most commonly identified errors occurring in every healthcare setting costing billions of dollars per year. They have the potential to cause death to a patient or increase hospital length of stay. ... -
Errors observed during the processes of medication preparation and administration: The Chilean nursing student experience
The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the medication errors made by Chilean nursing students during the preparation and administration processes within a complex clinical simulation scenario. The relationship ...
