English

Abstract

The aim is to evaluate the medication incidents relating to incorrect oral medication preparation and administration through enteral feeding tubes in hospitalized patients. A cross-sectional design was used to observe 374 doses of medications at three Brazilian hospitals. The patients consisted mostly of females (48.6%), elderly (65.71%), using polyurethane tubes (82.9%), with jejunal access (82.9%), and circulatory system diseases (45.71%). The most common medication incidents identified were: mixing tablets with other drug(s) (43.5%) and not labelling the prepared medication (60.4%). With regards to incorrect medication administration, not flushing the tube between medications (86.5%) and administering medications together (65.6%) were the most common errors. Tube obstruction was identified in 36.5% of doses administered. There was an association between tube obstruction and mixing tablet with other drug(s); tablet incorrectly reconstituted; tube not flushed prior to medication administration; tube not properly flushed between medications; concurrent administration of a medication and enteral formula; and enteral feeding not interrupted prior to medication administration. The results contribute to the development of knowledge in order to improve hospital nursing practice, especially in developing countries. Future studies should be conducted in order to access patients’ outcomes related to incorrect oral medication preparation and administration through feeding tubes. Key words: Feeding tube, wrong medication preparation, wrong medication administration, incidents.