Interruptions and nursing workload during medication administration process

To investigate the sources and causes of interruptions during the medication administration process performed by a nursing team and measure its frequency, duration and impact on the team's workload.

This is an observational study that timed 121 medication rounds (preparation, administration and documentation) performed by 15 nurses and nine nursing technicians in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the countryside of the state of São Paulo.

63 (52.1%) interruptions were observed. In each round, the number of interruptions that happened ranged from 1-7, for 127 in total; these occurred mainly during the preparation phase, 97 (76.4%). The main interruption sources were: nursing staff - 48 (37.8%) - and self-interruptions - 29 (22.8%). The main causes were: information exchanges - 54 (42.5%) - and parallel conversations - 28 (22%). The increase in the mean time ranged from 53.7 to 64.3% (preparation) and from 18.3 to 19.2% (administration) - p≤0.05.

Interruptions in the medication process are frequent, interfere in the workload of the nursing team and may reflect on the safety of care.