Feasibility Study of Interventions to Reduce Medication Omissions Without Documentation: Recall and Check Study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice
• Patient Safety
• Medication Management

Background:

• Medication omissions without documentation are a patient safety concern.
• Effective strategies are needed to minimize these events during healthcare transitions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of an intervention aimed at reducing undocumented medication omissions.
• To evaluate the impact of nurse-initiated recall cards and chart checking on omission rates.

Main Methods:

• A feasibility study was conducted comparing an intervention group with a control group.
• The intervention involved nurse-initiated recall cards and medication chart checking at handover.
• Omission rates per 100 medications were analyzed.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference in the overall omission rate was observed between groups.
• After adjusting for hospital and patient age, the intervention group showed a significant reduction in omissions.
• The study included 262 patients in the intervention group and 272 in the control group.

Conclusions:

• The tested intervention shows potential for reducing medication omissions without documentation.
• Further investigation with larger patient samples is warranted to confirm efficacy.
• This approach may improve medication safety during patient handovers.