Alarms beeping, call lights ringing, elevator doors opening, staff chatting, and family members seeking assistance or information are all common in hospital environments. These distractions and the mental task list of what needs to be done can create the perfect setup for mistakes, like medication errors.
For example, imagine Anderson James, a 68-year-old patient on a med-surg unit. His nurse is preparing his routine medications but is surrounded by distractions. Can the nurse navigate through these interruptions and avoid errors? Will the nurse learn from these challenges? To address this issue, we developed a simulation scenario for Mr. James. This can help students understand the critical skill of avoiding distractions.
In addition to financial costs, medication errors have a significant emotional toll on both the nurse involved and the patient and family. These errors can haunt nurses for a long time, affecting their own health and well-being. Patients and families can also lose trust in the healthcare system.
In 2022, a high-profile case led to a nurse being convicted of negligent homicide after a medication error caused the death of a patient. This case underscored the seriousness of the medication administration process. Traditionally, such cases were handled by state regulatory boards or civil courts, but this one entered the criminal justice system.
For these reasons, it’s crucial to equip future nurses with the skills to recognize and prevent potential incidents that could lead to medication errors due to workflow disruptions.
Top Sources of Disruption During Medication Administration
Interruptions by Colleagues
Unplanned Consultations:
Working on a hospital unit is a team effort. Requesting assistance from peers is common. “Can you help me reposition my patient?” or “How did you handle that awkward IV placement the other day?” These questions can distract nurses from tasks such as administering medications safely.
Student nurses must learn that declining non-urgent requests are okay until medications are safely administered. Reinforcing the risk of potentially fatal errors will help them remember to check if a colleague is in the middle of a med pass before asking for assistance.
Staff Shortages:
When there are call-ins or staffing shortages, nurses may be stretched thin. This can result in less vigilance during critical tasks like medication administration, increasing the risk of errors. New nurses may find it difficult to complete all steps of a safe med pass without interruptions.
Sim2Grow’s simulation scenario is ready to help prepare your students for these real-world challenges safely within your simulation lab.
Interruptions by Patients and Families
Questions and Concerns:
Patient requests and family inquiries need the full attention of the nurse. Student nurses must practice prioritizing critical tasks while balancing responsiveness to patient and family requests. Simulation is an excellent tool for honing a friendly yet firm approach to sharing the order of tasks and explaining when the nurse will complete them.
Emotional Distress:
Patients and families are often under significant stress when a loved one is hospitalized. In addition to feeling unwell, patients and families unfamiliar with the healthcare environment can become confused and anxious, leading to many questions and requests.
Interruptions within the Environment
Noise Pollution:
The hospital ward certainly is not a library quiet zone! Equipment alarms, overhead paging systems, and general ward noise can distract someone trying to focus on a task.
Technological Disruptions:
Software updates are an ongoing system requirement. Issues with electronic health records or medication dispensing machines can be frustrating distractions. The checks and balances that provide guidance might be part of a glitch that “requires” an override. Jammed or broken equipment can also cause a normally routine med pass to become a potential accident.
In Summary
Medication administration in hospitals is fraught with challenges, from distractions like alarms and requests to staffing shortages and patient concerns. These interruptions can increase the risk of medical administration errors, which carry emotional, financial, and sometimes legal consequences. By using realistic simulation scenarios, nursing students can practice handling these distractions safely in the practice lab, developing the critical skills needed to prevent errors and protect patient safety. Devoting curriculum time to such training is crucial for preparing future nurses to navigate the complexity of real-world healthcare environments.
Equip your Students: Free Resources
At Sim2Grow, we provide simulation solutions that empower nursing students to handle medication administration confidently. Are you ready to take the next step in equipping your students to prevent medication errors?
- Explore our Medication Administration Simulator today and see how it can benefit your program.
- Sign up for our free webinar to learn about making confident simulation equipment purchase decisions.
- Download our free simulation called Medication Administration Under Pressure: A Nursing Challenge Simulation to help you get started!
Research:
- Weng, et al. (2021), found that nurses experience an average of 12.68 interruptions per hour, many related to medication errors. (Am J Manag Care. 2021;27(6):e189-e194. DOI)
- Tariq et al. (2024) reported that medication errors occur in 6.5 out of every 100 acute care hospital admissions. These errors can result in increased lengths of hospital stays or even death. (Tariq RA, Vashisht R, Sinha A, Scherbak Y. Medication Dispensing Errors and Prevention. StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan–. PMID: 30085607.)
- The financial impact of medication errors in the U.S. has been reported to be $7.5 billion annually. (Source)
