Medication Errors among Iranian Intensive Care Nurses: A Systematic Review

Medication Error (ME) is a major patient safety concern in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Critical care nurses play a crucial role in the safe administration of medication. Thisstudy was conducted to comprehensively review the literature concerning the prevalence of ME and associated factors and outcomes in Iranian ICU nurses.

An extensive search of the literature was carried in international databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, as well as Persian databases such as Magiran and Scientific Information Database (SID) using ME‑related keywords and the Persian equivalent of these keywords, from the first article written in this field to artcles published on March 30, 2021. The appraisal tool (AXIS tool) was used to assess the quality of the included studies.

Fifteen studies were included in this systematic review. The prevalence of MEs made by ICU nurses was 53.34%. The most common types of MEs were wrong infusion rate (14.12%), unauthorized medication (11.76%), and wrong time (8.49%) errors, respectively. MEs occurred more frequently in morning work shifts (44.44%). MEs happened more frequently for heparin, vancomycin, ranitidine, and amikacin. The most important influential factor in the occurrence of MEs in ICUs was management and human factors.

The prevalence of MEs made by Iranian ICU nurses is high. Therefore, nurse managers and policymakers should develop appropriate strategies, including training programs, to reduce the occurrence of MEs made by nurses in ICUs.