Deliberate practice of medication administration among nursing students: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Patient Safety
• Clinical Skills Training

Background:

• Medication administration errors pose a global patient safety risk.
• Current teaching methods for medication administration require enhancement.
• Improved training is essential for safe nursing practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot the deliberate practice teaching method for medication administration skills.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of deliberate practice in nursing education.
• To inform a larger future study on this teaching intervention.

Main Methods:

• A multi-methods, repeated measures pilot study design.
• Pre-licensure nursing students participated in two study visits.
• Simulated medication administration scenarios were used as pre- and post-tests.

Main Results:

• The deliberate practice teaching method was feasible to implement.
• Medication error rates significantly decreased from 80.9% to 22.2%.
• Students reported perceived benefits and a need for more skills practice.

Conclusions:

• Deliberate practice is a feasible and effective teaching method for medication administration.
• Skills improved and were retained over a 4-8 week period.
• This approach may contribute to enhanced medication administration safety.