Erros de medicação reportados pelos enfermeiros da prática clínica.

Background: In the United States more than 7,000 patients die per year due to medication errors. These data include errors caused by nursing action. Aim: To identify medication errors reported by Portuguese nurses. Methodology: A mixed-descriptive, qualitative and quantitative study. The respondents were a random sample of 511 participants from the hospitals of the central region of Portugal. The first item of the questionnaire “Inappropriate nursing decisions and actions” was analyzed in this study. Results and Discussion: Fourteen categories were identified but only the category “Safe Administration of Medication” was examined with 511 recorded items. The most reported relevant medication errors fell into the subcategories “Preparation of Medication” with 112 registered items and “Administration of Medication”, with 399. Improper dilution (n=80: 15,66%) and incorrect selection of the prescribed drug (n=30: 5,87%) represent the highest percentage of reported errors in medication preparation. Errors of medication administration were mainly related to the incorrect selection of patients (n=322: 63,01%). Conclusion: The “Safe Administration of Medication” is a relevant category that emerges from the reported errors. Further to the study, the intention is to analyze the causes, as well as the decision-making processes achieved by nurses in clinical practice, as consequence of errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]