Conclusions Regarding the Research
Tabards worn during drug administration are relevant and go a long way in preventing Medical administration errors, according to Palese et al., (2015) . Failure to wear tabards is a significant contributor to distractions during drug administration, thus medical administration errors. Although relatively few cases of medication administration errors are reported, the lives that are involved in these cases cannot be taken for granted. Nurses who wear tabards are less likely to be disrupted by their colleagues as they administer drugs, as evidenced in the report. Colleagues and other workers can stay away from conversing or disturbing the administering nurse in any way, as long as they have a drug round tabard worn.
From this study, it is evident that nurses do not like wearing tabards, despite their prospected usefulness. It is shown that they do not find motivation, while others do not feel comfortable in them. For this reason, nurses need to be reassured on the effectiveness, and the barriers and challenges of putting them on established by stakeholders.
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Patients play an essential role in the success of administering drugs. As shown in this report, patients can be a distraction to nurses. Patients should not take too much space and time of nurses while on drug rounds, as this is a disruption. They have to serve others while paying attention to the specific patients’ needs.
The data obtained from the research was accurate, given that the sampling was done professionally. Sampling is the first determinant of the accuracy of results. In this research, the study population included nurses in a focus group, observations and personal inquiry. These study methods gave the researchers a chance to diversify their data and be free of bias. Using diverse methods presents data that can be compared and concluded for reliable results. The sample size used was 313 medication administrations, which is a stable number to draw a meaningful conclusion.
Limitations of the Study
Although the study was successfully carried out and yielded reliable results, some considerations would be altered to make the results more reliable. The choice of the wards did not give a broad scope of pathology. The wards chosen were the neurology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, ear, nose and throat wards. The type of drugs being administered, the environment and specializes in various wards are different. Procedures and ethics are also different. The limited variety of wards restricted the researchers to specific contexts.
The information instructing nurses to put on tabards while administering drugs was passed through posters, emails, and promotional films. According to King et al. (2018), it is easier to assume the target audience when these means are used as compared to being approached by the researcher at a personal level.
In this research, previously filled forms were used to record the type of interruptions that occurred. In this study, the observer used forms which outlined the vice versa of the seven expectations when a nurse is administering drugs, for instance, the right dose was listed as the wrong dose. This meant that the researchers had to stick to the list, and could have missed essential interruptions, just because they were not among the listed. If the answers were open-headed, the answered would have given a broader presentation of the ideal situation.
How the Limitations Affect the Recommendations
Recommendations are derived from the limitations and advantages of a study, so the limitations stated above will be the basis of this judgment. This will reduce the accuracy of the results, so the methods and choice of wards to be used for the study will be recommended to change. For instance on the wards selected, the recommendations will note that a broader range of wards to do the research on.
Recommendations
The sample size used in this study is representative, and it is recommendable for another survey. The sample size is large enough to give reliable results and easy to handle at the same time.
It would be recommended that the wards were chosen for the study to be diversified to get a wider variety of pathological conditions and types of patients. If this research had included a pediatric department, for instance, the conditions and kind of patients would be different. According to Kieran et al., (2017) children are generally jumpy and would most likely change the drug administration procedure, which is an essential factor of how a patient contributes to medication administration errors.
The forms used in this study were also close headed. However, it would be a better idea to record the data in an open-headed way, in addition to having the checklist. The researchers would be in a position to mark any peculiar or even new types of disruptions that occur when drugs are being administered. Combining a list as a guide, yet giving them a chance to add beneficial information to the responses would have been more effective.
The mode of passing the message to nurses would have been better if done at a personal level. However, convincing nurses at a personal level would have been more effective. This would entail explaining to them at a personal level the importance of drug round tabards and their role in preventing errors, which would serve as a motivation. Talking to one at a personal level has a higher impact compared to sending group emails or putting it on posters.
Conclusion
Using the three methods (focus groups, observations, and personal inquiry) effectively provided data to analyze occurrences of medication administration errors due to disruptions.
References
Kieran, M., Cleary, M., De Brún, A., & Igoe, A. (2017). Supply and demand: application of Lean Six Sigma methods to improve drug round efficiency and release nursing time. International Journal for Quality in Health Care , 29 (6), 803-809.
King, N., Horrocks, C., & Brooks, J. (2018). Interviews in qualitative research . SAGE Publications Limited.
Palese, A., Ferro, M., Pascolo, M., Dante, A., & Vecchiato, S. (2015). " I Am Administering Medication-Please Do Not Interrupt Me": Red Tabards Preventing Interruptions as Perceived by Surgical Patients. Journal of patient safety .
