Abstract
Background There is a paucity of literature originating from the Middle East on medication errors. Objective To explore the experiences of healthcare professionals around medication errors and medication error reporting. Setting Saudi Arabia. Method Questionnaire survey of those attending medication error continuing education sessions. Main outcome measures Experiences of medication errors in terms of number, type and severity in the preceding 12 months; barriers to reporting errors to health authorities; potential strategies to improve error reporting. Results Sixty-one (61/106, 57.5 %) questionnaires were completed. Thirty-five respondents (57.3 %) reported observing 51 errors during the preceding 12 months. Thirty-five errors (68.6 %) were described: wrong medication prescribed, dispensed or administered (11, 31.4 %); wrong dose prescribed (9, 25.7 %); inappropriate prescribing (issues of drug selection, monitoring) (9, 25.7 %); inappropriate route of administration (2), prescription duplication (2) and equipment failure (2). Patient outcomes resulting from these errors were described by the respondents as ‘caused patient harm’ in 14 instances. Three key barriers to reporting were: lack of awareness of the reporting policy; workload and time constraints associated with reporting; and unavailability of the reporting form. Conclusion Findings indicate a potential need to review medication error reporting systems in Saudi Arabia to heighten health professional awareness and improve the reporting culture.
References
Ferner RE, Aronson JK. Clarification of terminology in medication errors: definitions and classification. Drug Saf. 2006;29:1011–22.
Tully MP. Prescribing errors in hospital practice. Brit J Clin Pharm. 2012;74:668–75.
Lewis PJ, Dornan T, Taylor D, Tully MP, Wass V, Ashcroft DM. Prevalence, incidence and nature of prescribing errors in hospital inpatients: a systematic review. Drug Saf. 2009;32:379–89.
NHS Direct Patient Safety Agency Quarterly Data Workbooks, available from http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/collections/quarterly-data-summaries/?entryid45=133687. Accessed February 2013.
Ross S, Bond C, Rothnie H, Thomas S, MacLeod MJ. What is the scale of prescribing errors committed by junior doctors? A systematic review. Brit J Clin Pharm. 2009;67:629–40.
Uribe CL, Schweikhart SB, Pathak DS, Dow M, Marsh GB. Perceived barriers to medical error reporting; an exploratory investigation. J Health Manag. 2002;47:263–80.
Alsulami Z, Conroy S, Choonara I. Medication errors in the Middle East countries: a systematic review of the literature. Eur J Clin Pharm. 2013;69:995–1008.
World Health Organization. The multi-professional patient safety curriculum guide. http://www.who.int/patientsafety/education/curriculum/PSP_Curriculum_Adaptation-Guide_Nov-2011.pdf. Accessed February 2013.
Dudas RA, Bundy DG, Miller MR, Barone M. Can teaching medical students to investigate medication errors change their attitudes towards patient safety? BMJ Qual Saf. 2011;20:319–25.
Galt KA, Paschal KA, O’Brien RL, McQuillan RJ, Graves JK, Harris B, et al. Description and evaluation of an interprofessional patient safety course for health professions and related sciences students. J Patient Saf. 2006;2:207–16.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health Directorate Affairs in KSA for reviewing and supporting this research. We also thank all health professionals in the seven hospitals who participated in this research.
Funding
The research was funded by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health Directorate Affairs in KSA.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest to declare.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tobaiqy, M., Stewart, D. Exploring health professionals’ experiences of medication errors in Saudi Arabia. Int J Clin Pharm 35, 542–545 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-013-9781-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-013-9781-0