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Abstract
Background Medication administration error is the most frequent error in paediatrics and one of the leading causes of death.Adverse event reporting is critical to improving patient safety but challenging in our field, and not without barriers. The purpose of this analysis was to determine how often medications errors get communicated to patients and/or families and to identify the barriers perceived by healthcare providers to disclose these errors.
Methods A survey was distributed to the critical care team. The questions were answered anonymously, with the only identifier being their position in the critical care team.
Results A 76% response was obtained, eight attendings (44.4%), 5 nurses-RNs (27.8%), 3 nurse practitioners- NPs (16.7%), and 3 fellows (16.7%) returned the survey. The group that ‘always’ reported communication of medicine errors was the attendings (42%), followed by RNs (40%), NPs (25%), and the fellows (0%) (Figure 1). The most often perceived obstacle to communicating was family not being available (Figure 2).
Frequency of communication of medication errors to the patient/family
Barriers encountered in communicating medication errors to a patient/family
Conclusion This analysis demonstrated that communication of medication errors does not happen consistently. In addition, the most common obstacle identified was the absence of family when the event occurs. This is most likely a challenge that is more unique to the paediatric population. The culture of open communication is critical in creating a safer medical environment; therefore, it is a skill that must be implemented into the medical education.