Effectiveness of an Online Objective Structured Video Examination in Promoting Self-efficacy of Medication Administration and Recognition of Medication Errors Among Nurses

Abstract

Failure to follow the "Five Rights" and interruptions during medication administration are the two most common factors underlying nurse-related medication errors. This study was designed to examine the effectiveness in terms of improving nurses' medication administration self-efficacy and recognition of medication errors of an online objective structured video examination (OSVE) intervention focused on the "Five Rights" and "management of interruptions during medication administration". A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design with a respondent-driven sampling method was employed. One hundred and twelve nurses finished the online survey. Instruments included the self-efficacy of medication administration questionnaire and four online medication error OSVEs addressing the issue of medication error recognition. The intervention was an acute medication behavior OSVE. Paired t-tests were used to assess the pre-test / post-test differences between variables. The mean age of the 112 survey respondents was 27.21 years, and the mean years of working experience was 4.67. The mean self-efficacy of medication administration score, which was 38.88 (SD = 4.45) at baseline, increased significantly to 41.69 (SD = 4.58) at post-test (t = 7.11, p < .001). Similarly, the mean score for recognition of medication errors was 10.71 (SD = 7.16) at pre-test and significantly higher (15.32; SD = 4.94) at post-test (t = 5.90, p < .001). The online OSVE may be used to improve the recognition of medication errors and self-efficacy of medication administration in nurses. Future research is needed to examine the effect of this intervention in enhancing the safety of medication administration in actual clinical practice settings.