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Background: Interruptions have been reported to contribute to clinical errors and procedural failures. Objective: To analyze the interruptions experienced by nurses during the preparation and administration of high-risk medications. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in an intensive care and inpatient unit. The interruptions experienced by nurses during the medication process were observed through two checklists. The sample was selected by convenience in April-May 2019. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze quantitative data in IBM SPSS Statistics software, version 24.0, while content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Results: In 193 medication processes, there were 137 interruptions. Other members of the healthcare team initiated most interruptions through conversations. These interruptions were mostly negative and occurred during the preparation phase. The multitasking strategy was used to manage them. Conclusion: Interruptions during the medication process were primarily associated with professional and social communications. The impact of these interruptions varied depending on the phase of the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical framework: Over the years there have been substantial changes in the amount of documentation in nursing as a result of information technologies that are part of the daily work of health professionals. Physicians are the greatest consumers of the information collected, processed and documented by nurses, given the relevance of this information in the process of clinical decision-making. Objectives: To identify and describe the information collected, processed and documented by nurses that appears most relevant to the medical profession. Methodology: Qualitative and exploratory study using participant observation (98 hours) and interviews (3) with key informants, conducted in the hospital. Inductive content analysis of field notes and interviews. Results: The most relevant information for doctors depends on the context of the subject, action and professions and can be aggregated into three categories: «monitoring parameters»; «medications and therapeutic attitudes»; and «recurrent data». Conclusion: Strategies for data collection are capable of generating valid data for the identification of categories of information most relevant to physicians («monitoring parameters», «medications and therapeutic attitudes» and «recurrent data»). The information relevant for physicians is not influenced by the person who decides that the data are collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]