Interruptions and nursing workload during medication administration process.

Rev Bras Enferm

Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.

Published: August 2019

Objective: To investigate the sources and causes of interruptions during the medication administration process performed by a nursing team and measure its frequency, duration and impact on the team's workload.

MÉtodos: This is an observational study that timed 121 medication rounds (preparation, administration and documentation) performed by 15 nurses and nine nursing technicians in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the countryside of the state of São Paulo.

Resultados: 63 (52.1%) interruptions were observed. In each round, the number of interruptions that happened ranged from 1-7, for 127 in total; these occurred mainly during the preparation phase, 97 (76.4%). The main interruption sources were: nursing staff - 48 (37.8%) - and self-interruptions - 29 (22.8%). The main causes were: information exchanges - 54 (42.5%) - and parallel conversations - 28 (22%). The increase in the mean time ranged from 53.7 to 64.3% (preparation) and from 18.3 to 19.2% (administration) - p≤0.05.

ConclusÃo: Interruptions in the medication process are frequent, interfere in the workload of the nursing team and may reflect on the safety of care.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2018-0680DOI Listing

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