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Nurses' knowledge of high-alert medications: a randomized controlled trial
Min-Chin Lu1, Shu Yu, I-Ju Chen
1Tri-service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Nurse Education Today
|December 20, 2011
Summary
An educational intervention significantly improved nurses' knowledge of high-alert medications. This PowerPoint-based training is effective for hospital continuing education, enhancing patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Patient Safety
- Medication Administration
Background:
- Insufficient nurse knowledge is a key factor in medication errors.
- High-alert medications require special attention due to potential for severe patient harm.
- Previous research validated a tool to assess nurse knowledge of high-alert medications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on nurses' knowledge of high-alert medication administration.
- To determine if targeted education can improve safe medication practices.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 232 nurses across 21 hospital wards in Taiwan.
- The intervention group received a 60-minute PowerPoint presentation on high-alert medications.
- Knowledge was assessed using a 20-question test pre-intervention and six weeks post-intervention.
Main Results:
- The intervention group showed a significant increase in correct answer rates from 77.2% to 94.7% (p<0.0001).
- The control group demonstrated no significant change in knowledge (74.3% to 75.5%; p=0.247).
- The educational intervention led to a substantial improvement in nurses' understanding of high-alert medications.
Conclusions:
- Educational intervention is effective in enhancing nurses' knowledge of high-alert medications.
- The PowerPoint-based educational material is suitable and feasible for hospital continuing education.
- Improved nurse knowledge contributes to safer administration of high-alert medications.
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