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Nurses’ knowledge of high‐alert medications: instrument development and validation
Author(s) -
Hsaio GhiYin,
Chen IJu,
Yu Shu,
Wei IenLan,
Fang YuYuan,
Tang FuIn
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05164.x
Subject(s) - medicine , snowball sampling , harm , drug administration , medical emergency , family medicine , nursing , psychology , pathology , social psychology , pharmacology
hsaio g.‐y., chen i.‐j., yu s., wei i.‐l., fang y.‐y. & tang f.‐i. (2010) Nurses’ knowledge of high‐alert medications: instrument development and validation. Journal of Advanced Nursing 66 (1), 177–190. Abstract Title. Nurses’ knowledge of high‐alert medications: instrument development andvalidation. Aim. This paper is a report of the development and validation of an instrument to measure nurses’ knowledge of high‐alert medications and to analyse known administration errors. Background. Insufficient knowledge is a factor in nurses’ drug administration errors. Most errors do not harm patients, but incorrect administration of high‐alert medications can result in serious consequences. Sufficient knowledge about high‐alert medications is vital. Method. A cross‐sectional study was conducted in 2006 in Taiwan using a questionnaire developed from literature review and expert input, and validated by subject experts and two pilot studies. Section 1 of the questionnaire (20 true–false questions) evaluated nurses’ knowledge of high‐alert medications and section 2 was designed to analyse known administration errors. Snowball sampling and descriptive statistics were used. Findings. A total of 305 nurses participated, giving a 79·2% response rate (305/385). The correct answer rate for section 1 was 56·5%, and nurses’ working experience contributed to scores. Only 3·6% of nurses considered themselves to have sufficient knowledge about high‐alert medications, 84·6% hoped to gain more training, and the leading obstacle reported was insufficient knowledge (75·4%). A total of 184 known administration errors were identified, including wrong drug (33·7%) and wrong dose (32·6%); 4·9% (nine cases; 9/184) resulted in serious consequences. Conclusion. The questionnaire was valid and reliable. Evidence‐based results strongly suggest that nurses have insufficient knowledge about high‐alert medications and could benefit from additional education, particularly associated with intravenous bolus administration of high‐alert medications. Further research to validate the instrument is needed.