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New Jersey study analyzes nurses’ role in medication errors

Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, August 30, 2007

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To help determine how medication errors are linked to nursing, researchers at a New Jersey college will be launching a study this fall.

Rutgers College of Nursing researchers in New Brunswick, NJ, are seeking to find out how nurse staffing, safety technology, and the work environment affect the risk of errors involving medication. In total, 100 medical-surgical nurses from 17 New Jersey hospitals will be surveyed this fall about several factors concerning medication. In a few months, researchers expect to implement a second phase of the study, where 1,000 additional medical-surgical RNs will be asked to fill out a survey about their collaboration with physicians, their care processes, and their unit's practice environment.

Errors in medication reportedly result in more than 7,000 inpatient deaths each year, according to the researchers. The study was funded by a two-year, $308,254 grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Sources: The Gloucester County Times, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Other articles of interest:

Communication is the root cause of medical errors

Bright idea: Light helps reduce medical errors, lift patient moods

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