Frequency and Causes of Medication Errors in Nursing Intern Students in the Field in Sistan and Baluchistan

Clinical errors are an important issue in the care and health fields. Nursing students may also make more mistakes than nurses due to their low experience and skills.

The aim of this descriptive study was to determine the frequency and causes associated with medication errors in internship nursing in Sistan and Baluchistan Provinces.

This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study. In total, 102 nursing intern students in the field in the seventh and eighth semesters of Sistan and Baluchistan province participated in the study by census method. The data collection instrument was a three-part researcher-made questionnaire including demographic characteristics, details related to medication error, and causes of medication errors. Data was analyzed by SPSS statistical software version 19 and with descriptive statistics including mean, and standard deviation and inferential statistics like Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square and Kruskall-Wallis test.

79 (77.2%) ofstudents reported medication error. Error due to unfamiliarity with the brand name of drugs (44.1%), incorrect time of administration of the drug (37.3%) and giving the drug drawn in the syringe without checking the patients’ record or doctor’s prescription (33.3%) were the most common types of medication errors. Doctor’s handwriting (58.8%) was the most common cause of medication errors by students.

Most students reported the medication error, which is an alarm. It is necessary to hold pre-internship courses to review drug categories, brands and calculate the dose of drugs and reading the physician’s orders to prevent medication errors.