Abstract

Background: Medication administration is an important part of the nurse's role. Student nurses and new graduates often lack knowledge and competency to safely administer medications. Simulation can facilitate student learning about medication safety.

Purpose: This simulation intervention study tested the differences in knowledge, competency, and perceptions of medication safety between students who did and did not participate in safety enhanced medication administration simulations.

Method: This was a two-group pretest-posttest design. Participants completed the Medication Knowledge Safety Assessment (MSKA) and the Healthcare Professionals Patient Safety Assessment (HPPSA) pretests at the start of the semester. The control group participated in the usual simulations/debriefings; the intervention group participated in one additional medication administration simulation, and a medication safety enhanced simulation. During the final simulation of the semester, participants' competency in medication administration/safety was rated using the Medication Safety Critical Element Checklist (MSCEC). All participants completed the MSKA and HPPSA posttests.

Results: Data for the MSKA were analyzed using a Knowledge Pass/Fail cut score of 21 correct answers or more to pass. The HPPSA scores were analyzed using paired t-tests and MSCEC between groups scores were compared. Pearson correlations were performed to determine the relationship between the MKSA, MSCEC, and HPPSA scores for the intervention and control groups. Study results will be reported.

Conclusions/Implications: Medication safety is essential to ensuring patient safety; it is important to ensure that new graduates are well-prepared to provide safe care. Outcomes of this study support the evidence that simulation is an effective strategy to improve student learning.

Author Details

Bette Mariani, PhD, RN; Susan F. Paparella, MSN, RN; Jennifer Gunberg Ross, PhD, RN, CNE

Sigma Membership

Unknown

Lead Author Affiliation

International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL)

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Clinical Simulation, Medication Adminstration, Quantitative Research

Conference Name

INACSL Conference

Conference Host

International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning

Conference Location

Grapevine, Texas, USA

Conference Year

2016

Rights Holder

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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.

Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

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Improving medication safety through simulation

Grapevine, Texas, USA

Background: Medication administration is an important part of the nurse's role. Student nurses and new graduates often lack knowledge and competency to safely administer medications. Simulation can facilitate student learning about medication safety.

Purpose: This simulation intervention study tested the differences in knowledge, competency, and perceptions of medication safety between students who did and did not participate in safety enhanced medication administration simulations.

Method: This was a two-group pretest-posttest design. Participants completed the Medication Knowledge Safety Assessment (MSKA) and the Healthcare Professionals Patient Safety Assessment (HPPSA) pretests at the start of the semester. The control group participated in the usual simulations/debriefings; the intervention group participated in one additional medication administration simulation, and a medication safety enhanced simulation. During the final simulation of the semester, participants' competency in medication administration/safety was rated using the Medication Safety Critical Element Checklist (MSCEC). All participants completed the MSKA and HPPSA posttests.

Results: Data for the MSKA were analyzed using a Knowledge Pass/Fail cut score of 21 correct answers or more to pass. The HPPSA scores were analyzed using paired t-tests and MSCEC between groups scores were compared. Pearson correlations were performed to determine the relationship between the MKSA, MSCEC, and HPPSA scores for the intervention and control groups. Study results will be reported.

Conclusions/Implications: Medication safety is essential to ensuring patient safety; it is important to ensure that new graduates are well-prepared to provide safe care. Outcomes of this study support the evidence that simulation is an effective strategy to improve student learning.