Medication Errors among Iranian Intensive Care Nurses: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Patient Safety
• Nursing Practice
• Healthcare Quality

Background:

• Medication errors (ME) are a significant patient safety issue in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
• Critical care nurses are pivotal in ensuring safe medication administration.
• This review focuses on ME prevalence, factors, and outcomes among Iranian ICU nurses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively review the literature on medication errors (ME) in Iranian ICUs.
• To identify the prevalence, common types, and contributing factors of ME.
• To understand the outcomes associated with ME in this setting.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search across international and Persian databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Magiran, SID).
• Keywords included ME-related terms and their Persian equivalents, up to March 30, 2021.
• Quality appraisal of included studies using the AXIS tool.

Main Results:

• Fifteen studies were included, revealing a 53.34% prevalence of ME by ICU nurses.
• Common ME types: wrong infusion rate (14.12%), unauthorized medication (11.76%), and wrong time (8.49%).
• Errors were more frequent during morning shifts (44.44%) and involved specific medications like heparin and vancomycin; management and human factors were key contributors.

Conclusions:

• The prevalence of medication errors among Iranian ICU nurses is high.
• Nurse managers and policymakers must implement strategies, such as enhanced training, to mitigate ME.
• Reducing ME is crucial for improving patient safety in ICUs.