[Venus study: a research and education project on nurses and drug surveillance]. / Venus study: infermieri e farmacovigilanza sul campo. Progetto di formazione e ricerca.

INTRODUCTION: Adverse events (AE) are a relevant problem with major health consequences for both patients and health system in different countries. AIMS: To estimate and describe the AE and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) detected by nurses in hospital during an observation time of six months. METHODS: The observational study involved 174 nurses and 36 head nurses. Nurses recorded for each patient: health condition, unexpected AE, administered drugs, and suspected ADR. Nurses were also requested to send ADR reports to the Italian Pharmacovigilance System. RESULTS: Data were collected from 4608 patients. Nurses identified AE in 2458 patients and observed 6647 different events, mostly psychiatric (800 cases). Female, elderly, and 0-1 years old patients, number of administered drugs, and poor health conditions were all risk factors for adverse events (p < 0.01). Nurses identified 160 patients with ADRs (3.5% of observed patients). CONCLUSIONS: Nurses have shown a good observational skill for AE, but low ability to detect ADRs probably due to lack of knowledge on drugs and ADR. For this reason a continuing education is essential.