Variability in Threshold for Medication Error Reporting Between Physicians, Nurses, Pharmacists, and Families

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety research
• Medication administration

Background:

• Voluntary medication error reporting systems are essential but imperfect for enhancing medication administration quality.
• Front-line staff judgment is critical to balance reporting needs with avoiding
• report fatigue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interpretability of medication errors.
• To assess variability in reporting thresholds among different caregiver subgroups within hospitals.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to diverse healthcare professionals (nursing, physicians, pharmacists) and patients/families across an academic health system.
• Data analysis employed Fischer's exact testing with SAS v9.3 to identify significant differences between groups.

Main Results:

• Significant variability in reporting thresholds was observed across caregiver groups for medication administration errors and prescribing events.
• Free-text comments revealed associations between reporting behavior, medication allergy awareness, and educational gaps.

Conclusions:

• Substantial variability exists in the threshold for reporting specific medication errors in hospital settings.
• Enhanced education on medication error reporting characteristics is needed for all hospital staff subgroups to improve system effectiveness.