Exploring healthcare professionals’ perceptions of medication errors in an adult oncology department in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study

Abstract

ObjectiveAdverse events which result from medication errors are considered to be one of the most frequently encountered patient safety issues in clinical settings. We undertook a qualitative investigation to identify and explore factors relating to medication error in an adult oncology department in Saudi Arabia from the perspective of healthcare professionals.MethodsThis was a qualitative study conducted in an adult oncology department in Saudi Arabia. After obtaining required ethical approvals and written consents from the participants, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were carried out for data collection. A stratified purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit medical doctors, pharmacists, and nurses. NVivo Pro version 11 was used for data analyses. Inductive thematic analysis was adopted in the primary coding of data while secondary coding of data was carried out deductively applying the Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) framework.ResultThe total number of participants were 38. Majority of the participants were nurses (n = 24), females (n = 30), and not of Saudi nationality (n = 31) with an average age of 36 years old. Causes of medication errors were categorized into 6 themes. These causes were related teamwork across units, staffing, handover of medication related information, accepted behavioural norms, frequency of events reported, and non-punitive response to error.ConclusionThere were numerous causes for medication errors in the adult oncology department. This means substantive improvement in medication safety is likely to require multiple, inter-relating, complex interventions. More research should be conducted to examine context-specific interventions that may have the potential to improve medication safety in this and similar departments.

Addressing medication errors in an adult oncology department in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study

“…Using of focus group discussion offered opportunity to generate data through discussion among participants to share their knowledge and opinions to obtain solutions to minimize medication errors in the department (Hays and Singh, 2011). The discussion topic guides were informed by findings of our two previous studies (Alharbi et al, 2018, Alharbi et al, 2019) and related literature (Al-Dhawailie, 2011, Almutary and Lewis, 2012, Aljadhey et al, 2014). Questions included, which area we should focus on for minimizing medication errors in the department?…”

“…Each focus group meeting was facilitated by the first author (WH) and started with 10 min presentation to introduce causes of medication errors identified in the two previous studies (Alharbi et al, 2018, Alharbi et al, 2019). Following the presentation, discussion about strategies to minimize medication errors was carried out.…”

“…This study showed that teamwork across units, non-punitive response to error, handoffs and transition, communication openness, staffing, supervisors’/ managers’ expectations and actions promoting patient safety, management support for patient safety and overall perception of patient safety need to be strongly considered in addressing error. Following this survey, we carried out a qualitative study in the same setting in order to explore healthcare professionals’ perceptions of medication errors (Alharbi et al, 2019). We found that our participants perceived teamwork, staffing, the handover of medication-related information, accepted behavioural norms (e.g.…”

Towards an Application Helping to Minimize Medication Error Rate

“…Furthermore, the findings from the study of Gorgich and his colleagues suggested that common MEs in medication prescription can affect incorrect medication concentration, incorrect-time medication administration, medication overdose, and incorrect way of medication administration [18]. However, there is some evidence to suggest that MEs by nursing professionals are high, yet the rate of error reporting among them is low [19]. According to a recent study by Marznaki et al, the rate of MEs in nursing staff was reportedly 50%, and the most common type of MEs was forgetting medication prescriptions and incorrect dosage [20].…”

Behavioural changes in medication safety: Consequent to an action research intervention

“…Medication safety behaviours among health care providers likely have considerable influence on minimizing medication safety threats and the implementation of well-evidenced interventions (Parry, Barriball, & While, 2015). Previous research suggests that the behaviour of staff involved in medication therapy is closely connected to medication safety (Alharbi, Cleland, & Morrison, 2019). To improve quality of care and safety, a systemic approach is required to take staff behavioural changes into consideration.…”