A meta-synthesis of how registered nurses make sense of their lived experiences of medication errors

Medication errors are a frequent phenomenon in nursing, as the nurses are primarily responsible for preparation and administration of medications to patients. Little is known about how nurses make sense of their experiences of medication errors as a lived phenomenon.

To aggregate, synthesise and interpret the qualitative evidence of studies which explored nurses' lived experiences of medication errors.

A meta-synthesis is presented with thematic analysis by Thomas & Harden (BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8, 2008, 45). Qualitative studies (January 1980-June 2018) retrieved from PubMed, BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED, PsycINFO, ProQuest, ScienceDirect and Wiley Online Library. The PRISMA flow chart, CASP tool and COREQ checklist are integrated in the meta-synthesis.

Eight primary research studies were included with the follow themes: "moral impact," "emotional impact," "constructive learning," "impact on professional registration and employment," "nurses' coping strategies with the experience," "patient and family," "identification of contributing factors to medication errors" and "preventive measures for medication errors."

The moral and emotional impact of medication errors to nurses was devastating for themselves. Yet, they detected strategies to cope with their error and its consequences and even more translated their experience into a constructive lesson and identified ways to prevent future errors.

The meta-synthesis provides a holistic perspective about how registered nurses made sense of their lived experiences of medication errors. Its findings reveal that the experience has both positive impact and negative impact to the nurses. Its findings should inform mainly the clinical nursing practice, clinical nurses, nurse educators, nurse leaders and policymakers of medication administration.