Medication Omission Rates After Inclusion of Patients' Names on Medication Drawers

Aim: To determine whether medication omission rates differed if medication drawers in a unit‐of‐use trolley were labelled with patients' names as well as bed numbers. Method: During a two‐month period all doses given or missed were counted in a busy surgical ward. For one month the medication drawers in the unit‐of‐use trolley were labelled only with bed numbers. During the next month drawers were also labelled with the patient's name. Omitted doses were identified by missing signatures on drug administration charts. Results: In the month when drawers had bed numbers only, 1935 doses were ordered and 146 omitted (7.6%). In the month that drawers had patient names and numbers, 3601 doses were ordered and 204 omitted (5.7%). This difference was significant (z = 2.74, p < 0.01). Conclusion: These data suggest that dosage omissions can be reduced by adding a patient's name to their medication drawer in a drug trolley.