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Published on: November 9, 2016
Registered Nurses' medication administration skills: a systematic review
Sanna Luokkamäki1, Marja Härkänen1, Susanna Saano2
1Department of Nursing Science, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Aims:
The aim of this review was to identify methods for measuring Registered Nurses' medication administration skills and to describe these skills.
Design:
A systematic literature review.
Data Sources:
The CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, PsycInfo and Medic databases were searched for articles from the period 2007-2018.
Review Methods:
Two researchers independently selected the articles and evaluated their quality using the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute study quality assessment tools. The data were analysed using content analysis.
Results:
A total of 727 studies were identified of which 22 studies were included in this review. A total of six different measurement methods were identified: questionnaire or survey, observation, knowledge test or exam, focus group interviews, chart reviews and voluntarily reported errors. Different methods provided different information on medication administration skills. Medication administration skills were classified under nine areas: (1) safe ordering, handling, storing and discarding of medications, (2) preparing of medications, (3) the administration of medications to patients, (4) documentation, (5) evaluation and assessment of medication-related issues, (6) drug calculation skills, (7) cooperation with other professionals and (8) with the patients and (9) reporting of medication information. The results demonstrated that there are many areas that need to be improved to increase medication safety.
Conclusions:
Medication administration includes many different phases, as a result of which nurses need to have many various skills to cope with medication administration as required by their profession. This review shows that nurses' medication administration skills need to be developed, and special attention should be paid to the preparation and administration phases. It is important to regularly utilise different teaching strategies and verify nurses' medication competence. As each research method has different limitations, it is vital that further studies combine different methods to form a comprehensive picture of nurses' medication administration skills.
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