Decreasing medication errors in four intensive care units of a tertiary care teaching hospital in India using a sensitization programme.

Background: Medication errors have an adverse impact on the healthcare system by increasing patient morbidity and mortality. They are preventable, and educational or technology-based interventions are needed to reduce their prevalence and improve medication safety. We aimed to study the impact of a sensitization programme and a blame-free reporting tool for doctors and nurses on the prevalence and reporting of medication errors in the intensive care units (ICUs) of a tertiary care teaching hospital.

Methods: This prospective interventional study was conducted in the ICUs of cardiology, medicine, paediatrics and neonatology. Baseline medication errors were detected by prescription order review and direct observation of administration of medication for 30 days. A sensitization programme was conducted for doctors and nurses in these ICUs, the results were discussed, and a blame-free medication error reporting tool was introduced. Medication charts were modified to remove the transcription process in the cardiology and paediatrics ICUs. The follow-up study was conducted for 30 days in each ICU to monitor the impact of the sensitization programme.

Results: The prevalence of medication errors was found to be 334.1/1000 patient observation days. Prescription errors were the most common types of errors at 129.1/1000 patient observation days. The interventions significantly reduced the error rate in all four ICUs. The overall number of prescriptions with errors was reduced from 9.1% (177/1944) to 3.5% (48/1373) and no medication error was reported using the tool.

Conclusion: The sensitization programme on medication errors for doctors and nurses may be effective in improving medication safety. The impact was more pronounced in prescription errors. Reporting of medication errors did not improve in this study despite the introduction of a blame-free reporting tool.