Learning mechanisms to limit medication administration errors

This paper is a report of a study conducted to identify and test the effectiveness of learning mechanisms applied by the nursing staff of hospital wards as a means of limiting medication administration errors.

Since the influential report ;To Err Is Human', research has emphasized the role of team learning in reducing medication administration errors. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanisms underlying team learning.

Thirty-two hospital wards were randomly recruited. Data were collected during 2006 in Israel by a multi-method (observations, interviews and administrative data), multi-source (head nurses, bedside nurses) approach. Medication administration error was defined as any deviation from procedures, policies and/or best practices for medication administration, and was identified using semi-structured observations of nurses administering medication. Organizational learning was measured using semi-structured interviews with head nurses, and the previous year's reported medication administration errors were assessed using administrative data.

The interview data revealed four learning mechanism patterns employed in an attempt to learn from medication administration errors: integrated, non-integrated, supervisory and patchy learning. Regression analysis results demonstrated that whereas the integrated pattern of learning mechanisms was associated with decreased errors, the non-integrated pattern was associated with increased errors. Supervisory and patchy learning mechanisms were not associated with errors.

Superior learning mechanisms are those that represent the whole cycle of team learning, are enacted by nurses who administer medications to patients, and emphasize a system approach to data analysis instead of analysis of individual cases.