The proportion of errors in medical prescriptions and their executions among hospitalized children before and during...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric patient safety
• Healthcare quality improvement
• Medication error reduction

Background:

• Medication errors pose a significant risk in pediatric healthcare settings.
• The Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation program provides standards for improving patient safety, including medication management.
• Evaluating the impact of JCI implementation on medication errors is crucial for quality assurance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess medication-related error rates in a pediatric ward and pediatric emergency department (PED) before and after implementing JCI accreditation strategies.
• To determine the effectiveness of JCI-based interventions in reducing prescribing and administration errors.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective, cross-sectional chart review was conducted.
• Data were collected from pediatric patients aged 0-18 years in February 2013 (pre-JCI) and February 2014 (during JCI implementation).
• A training program focused on JCI medication prescribing standards was implemented as an intervention.

Main Results:

• A significant reduction in prescribing errors was observed, decreasing from 6.5% in 2013 to 4.2% in 2014 (P = 0.03).
• No significant difference was found in medication administration error rates between the two periods (11.3% vs. 11.9%, P = 0.61).
• A total of 1861 medical orders were reviewed in 2013 and 1919 in 2014.

Conclusions:

• Quality assurance interventions, aligned with JCI standards, can effectively decrease medication prescribing errors in pediatric settings.
• While prescribing errors were reduced, administration error rates require further attention and targeted improvement strategies.
• The study highlights the potential of accreditation programs to enhance medication safety.