Developing an immersive virtual reality medication administration scenario using the nominal group technique.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Patient Safety
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Medication errors in the US incur significant daily financial losses, impacting hospital budgets.
• Safe medication administration by Registered Nurses (RNs) is critical across all patient care phases.
• Virtual reality (VR) simulation offers a promising educational methodology for RNs to improve medication safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the application of the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) for identifying key factors in medication administration errors.
• To gather focused content for developing realistic medication administration error scenarios.
• To prepare educational materials for practicing RNs using immersive VR simulation.

Main Methods:

• A Nominal Group Technique (NGT) process was employed to achieve consensus among RNs on contributing factors.
• The NGT involved idea generation, listing, discussion, ranking, and voting on human and system factors.
• Participants, including novice and experienced RNs, ranked factors based on likelihood of occurrence during a shift.

Main Results:

• Time management issues (e.g., being hurried or behind schedule) were identified as significant factors impacting safe administration.
• Challenges with the 'Right Medication' due to look-alike and sound-alike drug names were also highlighted.
• These factors were found to impact both novice and experienced Registered Nurses.

Conclusions:

• The NGT effectively identified critical human and system factors contributing to medication administration errors.
• The identified factors will directly inform the creation of targeted medication administration scenarios.
• These scenarios will be utilized in immersive VR simulations to enhance RN education and improve patient safety.