Measures to prevent medication errors in intensive care units

Abstract

Aim: The aims were to summarize studies on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce adverse events of the medication error type and, based on the studies, to identify recommendations for preventing medication errors in intensive care units (ICUs). Design: A descriptive review. Methods: To find relevant resources, the SCOPUS and EBSCO electronic databases were searched using the following search words: prevention, medication errors, intensive care unit. Both primary and secondary studies on prevention of medication errors in ICUs were selected. Results: A total of eight primary studies and three systematic reviews were included. The studies showed considerable variability and differed in methods, numbers of monitored events or ways of data collection. The assessed interventions were pharmacist involvement, automated infusion devices, reporting medication errors, strategies to limit interruptions during drug administration, electronic health records together with support systems for clinical decision making, nurse education in drug administration and creating checklists. Conclusion: The assessment of selected studies suggests that to a certain extent, all of them showed certain medication error reduction. Due to numerous limitations, however, it is impossible to select and recommend a single approach.