Medication errors management process in hospital: a 6-month pilot study.

The objectives of this study are to assess the relevance of the medication error reporting system in a French teaching hospital, to enable the collection of medication error reports and to take corrective actions to reduce occurrence. This is a prospective pilot study based on blame-free reporting by healthcare professionals. The study setting is five medical/surgical departments in a French teaching hospital over a 6-month period. The main outcomes of this study are types, frequency, and consequences of medication errors reported. Over a 6-month period, 47 medication errors were reported. Twenty-eight (60%) were related to the prescription process, of which 17 were prescribing errors, 10 were because of data capture error and one was because of software malfunction. Ten medication errors (21%) were related to the dispensing process and eight (17%) to errors occurring during drug administration. Finally, one medication error (2%) was related to prescription, dispensing, and administration. The reporting process was accepted by most healthcare professionals who agreed to initiate medication errors reports upon assurance that data collection will be confidential. The reporting process led to several avoidance actions to minimize the medication error risk. Maintaining confidentiality embedded within a nonpunitive environment, this method was accepted by all participating personnel. Medication errors could be collected, reviewed, and corrective actions taken. This strategy can be a first step in a long-term ongoing process to prevent future medication errors in hospitals.

[Ethical behavior of nurses in their practices and in clinical medical research,. Part 1]. / Comportement éthique des infirmières dans leurs pratiques et dans la recherche clinique médicale. 1ère partie.

Providing high-quality nursing care implies to answer different questions pertaining to either technical or ethical features. Among these questions, two are studied more in-depth in the present paper. What is the ethical behaviour of French nurses when facing difficult clinical situations and how are they dealing with questions arising when clinical investigations are performed (both those directed by physicians but also nursing-led research). In this country, indeed, significant pressure from both court judgements and changes in the law now requires caregivers (and particularly nurses) to participate more actively in clinical decisions where an ethical dilemma arises. Have French nurses acquired the necessary tools to behave adequately in these situations and are they actually playing a role in daily ethical decisions? Nurses may be participating in physician-led research but also develop their own research. Which value do French nurses attribute to medical investigations and what is their perception of their role in physician-led research? Are they willing to lead their own research and what are the main barriers limiting their action? Two surveys performed at a two-year interval in Teaching Hospitals affiliated to the University of Paris and using a similar questionnaire were used to provide answers to these questions.