Using the internet to deliver education on drug safety

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety research
• Nursing education technology

Background:

• Medication administration errors (MAEs) affect 3-8% of non-intravenous drug doses in UK hospitals, with higher rates for intravenous drugs.
• Traditional group education sessions for medication safety are often impractical for nursing staff.
• Internet-based educational modules offer a flexible alternative for improving drug safety knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the impact of internet-based educational modules on medication administration errors.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a digital learning intervention for hospital nursing staff.
• To identify specific areas of medication administration that benefit from targeted educational improvements.

Main Methods:

• Development of 11 internet-based drug safety modules delivered via commercial software.
• Implementation on a hospital ward, encouraging all nursing staff to participate.
• Observation of drug administration rounds before and after module completion to quantify MAEs.

Main Results:

• High uptake of the educational package, with 63% of nurses completing all modules.
• A reduction in the MAE rate for non-intravenous drugs from 6.1% to 4.1%.
• No statistically significant change in the overall MAE rate; intravenous errors often related to bolus injection speed.

Conclusions:

• An interactive, internet-based patient safety educational package was successfully implemented with high nursing staff engagement.
• The intervention led to a significant reduction in non-intravenous medication administration errors.
• Further research may be needed to address specific error types, such as rapid intravenous bolus administration.