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Medication Safety Risks and Their Management in Finnish Care Units: A Cross-Sectional Survey
Anu Saavalainen1, Marianne Kuusisto1,2, Carita Linden-Lahti1,3
1Division of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Health Services Insights
|July 25, 2026
Summary
Finnish healthcare units use medication safety protocols, but development needs more interprofessional collaboration, especially in social care. Enhancing risk management and patient involvement in medication management and use (MMU) is crucial for patient safety.
Area of Science:
- Patient safety research
- Healthcare quality improvement
- Medication safety
Background:
- Medication safety deficiencies pose significant risks to patients.
- Finnish health and social care units are mandated to create unit-based protocols for safe medication management and use (MMU).
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the development process of unit-based safe MMU protocols in Finnish health and social care settings.
- To assess the comprehensiveness of the content within these MMU protocols.
Main Methods:
- A descriptive, cross-sectional study utilizing an online survey.
- Data collected from Finnish registered nurses and pharmacists (n=905).
- Descriptive statistics and inferential tests (t-tests, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H) were employed.
Main Results:
- 91.5% of participants reported having a unit-based MMU protocol.
- Interprofessional collaboration in protocol development was low (11.6%), more prevalent in healthcare than social care.
- Protocols were generally perceived as comprehensive, with least detail in medication safety management, reconciliation, and risk management.
Conclusions:
- Unit-based MMU protocols are vital for defining MMU processes and safety practices.
- Increased interprofessional development, particularly involving physicians and pharmacists in social care, is necessary.
- Strengthening preventive, system-based risk management and healthcare professional competencies in medication safety is recommended.
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