Medication Safety Simulation to Assess Student Knowledge and Competence

Abstract

BackgroundMedication administration is an important part of the nurse's role. Students and new nursing graduates often lack knowledge and competency to safely administer medications. Simulation can facilitate student learning about medication safety. PurposeThis simulation intervention study tested the differences in knowledge, competency, and perceptions of medication safety between students who did and did not participate in safety enhanced medication administration simulations. MethodThis was a two-group pretest-posttest design. Participants completed the Medication Safety Knowledge Assessment (MSKA) and the Healthcare Professionals Patient Safety Assessment (HPPSA) pretests at the start of the semester. The control group participated in the usual simulations/debriefings; the intervention group participated in one additional medication administration simulation, as well as medication safety enhanced simulations. During the final simulation of the semester, participants’ competency in medication administration safety was rated using the Medication Safety Critical Element Checklist (MSCEC). All participants completed the MSKA and HPPSA posttests. ResultsData for the MSKA were analyzed using a Knowledge Pass/Fail cut score of 21 correct answers or more to pass. The HPPSA scores were analyzed using t tests and MSCEC between groups scores were compared. There were statistically significant differences in student knowledge (MSKA) and competency (MSCEC) for students who participated in the medication safety enhanced simulations. Conclusions/ImplicationsMedication safety is essential to ensuring patient safety; it is important to ensure that nursing graduates are well-prepared to provide safe care. Outcomes of this study support the evidence that simulation is an effective strategy to improve student learning.