A structural equation modeling of the factors affecting student nurses' medication errors

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Quality

Background:

• Medication errors are a persistent problem in healthcare, despite extensive research on their incidence, types, causes, and prevention.
• While registered nurses' medication errors are well-documented, the specific nature and contributing factors of student nurses' medication errors remain less understood.
• This knowledge gap highlights the need for focused research on student nurses to improve future nursing practice and patient safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the underlying factors contributing to medication errors among student nurses.
• To develop and validate a model explaining the causal pathways of medication errors in student nurses.
• To identify key mediators, such as adherence to the "five rights," in the relationship between error-causing factors and actual medication errors.

Main Methods:

• Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to analyze the data.
• A sample of 329 junior and senior student nurses from a comprehensive university in the Philippines participated in the study.
• Data were collected to identify and quantify the dimensions contributing to medication errors.

Main Results:

• Five key dimensions contributing to student nurses' medication errors were identified: In-violation, In-writing, In-excess, In-experience, and In-tension.
• Path analysis revealed significant interactions among these identified factors.
• Poor adherence to the "five rights" of medication administration was found to be a significant mediator between the identified causal factors and medication errors.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully developed a model elucidating the nature and contributing factors of medication errors among student nurses.
• Findings underscore the critical role of adherence to the "five rights" in mitigating medication errors stemming from various causes.
• The established model provides a foundation for designing targeted educational interventions and error prevention strategies for student nurses.