Abstract
Objective: To determine the magnitude of medication
administration errors and their types among nurses
working at tertiary care public sector hospital, Karachi,
Pakistan.
Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional study
was performed at Dr. Ruth K.M. Pfau Civil Hospital
and Dow University Hospital, Karachi from January to
October 2018. It included 204 nurses of both genders
having one year working experience and registered
with Pakistan Nursing Council. Non-probability
purposive sampling method was used. The data were
obtained by adopted and validated questionnaire and
was analyzed using SPSS version 21.
Results: Out of 204 subjects, 106 (52%) were male
and 168 (82.3%) had age below 35 years. The
frequency of medication administration error was
found in 167 (81.9%). Wrong time medication
administration error was seen in 56 (27.5%) nurses,
missed dose in (43.1%) and in 103 (50.5%)
medications were administered with improper
technique. Nurse who was assigned more than 15
patients committed [AOR = 1.59, 95% CI (0.65, 3.90)]
more errors and those working in night shift
committed [AOR = 2.32, 95% CI (0.82, 6.54)] more
errors.
Conclusion: There was high frequency of medication
administration errors among nurses working at our
institution. The most prominent type of medication
administration errors were technique error followed by
missed drug.
Keywords: Medication administration error, types of
error, wrong time medication.
