The process of administration of medication: factors related to prevention, occurence and evaluation of errors

• Grant number: 99/01782-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: October 01, 1999
• End date: March 31, 2003
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Medical-Surgical Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Silvia Helena de Bortoli Cassiani
• Grantee: Silvia Helena de Bortoli Cassiani
• Host Institution: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto (EERP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This thematic project seeks to strengthen the studies concerning the process of administration of medications in its totality. It demands professional responsibility from everyone involved in order to guarantee safety in medication administered. Errors can happen in any moment and it should have effort among researchers, administrators, nurses, doctors and pharmacists in order to prevent them. Face to this research problem it is proposed the following objectives: 1. To propose a taxonomy of medication error; 2. to identify and to analyze the phases involved in the process of the administration of medications; 3. to analyze the education and the competence of the nursing team concerned to the to the medications 4. To build, a model of the process of Administration of Medications, identifying the risk situations, the strategies, the necessary behaviors and the interventions that can minimize the occurrence of errors. The data will be analyzed according to the qualitative and quantitative methods. It is expected that medication errors will be recognized as a serious problem by the health institutions and researchers and interventions needs to be proposed by everyone involved, since it is a subject of health quality. (AU)