Pharmacy Students' Clinical Reasoning and Decision-Making to Detect and Resolve Medication Errors

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy education
• Patient safety
• Clinical reasoning

Background:

• Medication errors are a significant threat to patient safety in healthcare.
• Pharmacists are crucial in preventing medication errors through clinical reasoning.
• Understanding student pharmacists' decision-making is vital for improving error detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the clinical reasoning and decision-making processes of pharmacy students at Qatar University.
• To investigate how students approach medication error scenarios.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative case study design was employed.
• The think-aloud procedure was used with senior Bachelor of Pharmacy (Bsc Pharm) and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students.
• Thematic analysis was conducted on interview data.

Main Results:

• Eight key themes emerged, including initial patient impression, data assessment, recall of therapeutic knowledge, data interpretation, error diagnosis, desired outcomes, decision optimization, and recommendations.
• Students demonstrated various strategies in identifying and resolving medication errors.
• Challenges in recalling therapeutic knowledge were noted.

Conclusions:

• Qatar University student pharmacists employ multiple strategies to detect and resolve medication errors.
• The think-aloud method provided valuable insights into factors affecting clinical reasoning.
• Educational interventions are recommended to further enhance student pharmacists' skills in medication error management.