Developing a Medication Administration Observation Checklist: Key Insights for Standardized Reporting Methodology

Medication administration incidents are a significant patient safety concern in health care, often driven by human and work system factors which contribute to errors.

The purpose of this study was to develop a medication administration observation checklist tool tailored for a pediatric tertiary care center in Atlantic Canada.

We synthesized existing evidence on methodologies for observational tools in medication administration by nurses. Next, we engaged nursing knowledge users in Think Aloud sessions to iteratively refine the checklist's items.

We share the development of a medication administration observation checklist tool. This process incorporated valuable feedback from frontline nurses and nurse managers, ensuring the checklist's relevance and usability in clinical practice.

Our findings underscore the importance of co-developing data collection tools with interdisciplinary teams, leveraging theoretical frameworks to capture complexities in workflow, and enhancing transparency in reporting methodologies to support replicability across diverse clinical contexts.