Using an Innovative Data Warehouse to Determine Nurse Staffing Indicators Associated With Medication Errors: A...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Practice
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Medication errors (MEs) stem from complex system and human factors, including staffing shortages.
• Existing research shows moderate, variable associations between MEs and nurse staffing, primarily from the US.
• There is a need for more research on this topic within the Canadian healthcare context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of utilizing an innovative data warehouse to examine the link between nurse staffing indicators and medication errors.
• To provide Canadian-specific evidence on the relationship between nurse staffing and patient safety outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A correlational design analyzed retrospective data from 2019-2021 from the LEPSI data warehouse at a Canadian university hospital.
• Data included 94,145 patient files, 8368 employee profiles, and 2813 MEs.
• A generalized linear mixed model controlled for confounding variables to assess the association between nurse staffing and MEs.

Main Results:

• Higher ratios of clinical nurse and nurse technician hours to total care team hours were significantly associated with lower odds of MEs (ORs 0.46 and 0.41).
• No significant association was found between MEs and higher ratios of overall care team hours to patient hours (OR 1.01).
• No significant association was found between MEs and higher ratios of care team overtime hours to care team hours (OR 0.71).

Conclusions:

• The LEPSI data warehouse is a feasible tool for measuring nursing performance and assessing medication error associations.
• Findings align with existing literature, reinforcing the link between nurse staffing levels and patient safety.
• Data warehouse utilization offers a promising method for evidence generation to inform healthcare decision-making regarding patient safety.