Drug-safety reporting in Polish nursing practice—Cross sectional surveys

Abstract

Introduction Nurses play a significant role in ensuring the safety and quality of drugs. Our aim was to assess significant factors in nurses’ participation in ensuring pharmacotherapy safety by reporting adverse drug reactions (ADR) and detecting substandard drugs (SD). Materials and methods The study was a cross-sectional, comparative survey, using original questionnaires. Survey questions were grouped to probe the opinions, attitudes and practices of nurses reporting ADRs and SDs. Data were obtained from nurses working in teaching hospitals in Poland (group A) and, for comparison, in the USA (group B). 1200 questionnaires were distributed in Poland (return rate: 55.7%) and 200 questionnaires in the USA (return rate: 73%). Both groups were surveyed during the same period. There were no exclusion criteria. The questionnaires were self-administered. Distribution and collection were anonymous. Participation was voluntary. The Spearman correlation test was used. Both groups’ responses were cross-tabulated and compared using Fisher’s Exact Test for Count Data. Results The study group comprised 669 Polish and 146 American professionally active nurses working in general care and surgical departments. Age range: 18 to 72 years. Median job seniority: 18.3 years (group A) and 20.6 years (group B). Education levels varied. ADR reporting conditions in Poland are unfavorable: shortage of time—83.9% vs 22.6% in the US (p = 0.01); no incentive—58.2% vs 6.1% in the US (p = 0.01); and no equipment—44.7% vs 2.8% in the US (p < 0.01). Both Polish and American nurses indicate they rarely report SDs, with rates of 0.4% and 11% (p < 0.0001) respectively, during the study period. Conclusions Nurses in Poland are insufficiently prepared to ensure drug safety conscientiously and responsibly. Training is required for Polish nurses. Nurses’ employers need to improve conditions to enable reporting of ADRs and SDs.

Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice in Relation to Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting: A Systematic Review

“…Our review findings indicate that although 67.1% of nurses encountered patients with ADR during their clinical practice, only a small percentage (21.2%) of them had the experience of ADR reporting. In several studies, nurses acknowledged that they were not adequately prepared to be capable to report ADRs [ 16 , 61 ]. Similar to our findings, a systematic review by Bhagavathula et al showed that 74.5% of Indian healthcare professionals including nurses never reported any ADRs [ 53 ].…”

“…A key to creating a more robust surveillance culture is to ensure that all healthcare professionals who administer drugs are aware of how to monitor and report any difficulties that patients may experience [ 8 ]. Also involving physicians and pharmacists, nurses should additionally play a proactive role in PV activities and ADR reporting [ 16 ]. Nurses have a unique position in the healthcare team to monitor a patient's response to medication as they administer most drugs in healthcare settings and they are often present when an ADR happens and are involved in taking appropriate action to ameliorate the problem accordingly [ 17 , 18 ].…”

“…Increased engagement of nurses in ADR reporting can improve patient safety and reduce the costs of any ADR treatment complications [ 20 ]. However, previous literature has documented that a contribution from nurses is not optimal in the ADR reporting [ 16 , 21 , 22 ].…”

Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions: nurses’ perception

“…Similar results were found in the literature. Many studies found a lack of pharmacovigilance knowledge among nurses [19][20][21][22]. An Indian study showed that more than half of health professionals are not aware of the national program of pharmacovigilance [23].…”

Barriers and facilitators to pharmacovigilance activities in Pakistan: A healthcare professionals-based survey

“…This is mainly associated with the practices of PV in any healthcare system. However, literature has revealed that ADR reporting improved wherever there was an involvement of educational and training-based interventions including enhanced motivational strategies for reporting and enhanced availability of the reporting tools for the ADR reporting staff [12].…”