Medication administration errors for older people in long-term residential care

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Services Research
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Older adults in long-term care facilities face a high risk of medication errors.
• Medication prescribing and administration errors pose significant threats to resident well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the incidence of medication administration errors in nursing and residential homes.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a barcode medication administration (BCMA) system in identifying and preventing errors.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study observed 345 residents across 13 care homes over 3 months.
• Barcode medication administration (BCMA) systems and disguised observation techniques were used to record medication administration attempts.
• Medication administration errors (MAEs) were classified, and data were compared between residential and nursing homes.

Main Results:

• Over 188,000 medication administrations revealed 2,289 potential MAEs, with 90% of residents experiencing at least one error.
• The most frequent error was incorrect timing (45%), with 52% of residents exposed to serious errors like wrong-patient administration.
• Nursing homes had a 1.43 times higher error rate than residential homes, despite low non-compliance with system alerts.

Conclusions:

• Medication administration errors are highly prevalent in long-term residential care settings.
• Barcode medication administration (BCMA) systems are effective tools for detecting and mitigating medication errors.
• Implementing BCMA systems can significantly enhance patient safety in care homes.