Medication prescribing errors are a source of morbidity and mortality on surgical wards, however educational interventions with proven effectiveness to reduce these errors are lacking. Our objective was to design, implement, and assess the effectiveness of a curriculum designed to reduce medication prescribing errors on a surgery service at an academic hospital without electronic order entry.
This was a prospective observational cohort study at a Canadian academic hospital. A medication prescribing curriculum for surgery residents was developed and implemented in July 2019. All general surgery residents (n = 16) at our institution were eligible; 13 (81%) participated. Medication prescribing errors were tracked pre-curriculum implementation (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019) and post-curriculum (July 1-December 31, 2019). Medication prescribing errors were classified as prescription-writing (PW) or decision-making (DM).
There were 87.5 (14.6) total medication prescribing errors per month in the pre-implementation period with 51.3 (11.9) PW and 36.3 (6.0) DM errors. Post-implementation, there were 78.7 (10.3) total errors monthly with 43.3 (9.5) PW and 35.3 (4.2) DM errors. There were significantly fewer total errors monthly in the first quarter (July–September) of the academic year post-curriculum implementation versus pre-implementation (77.7(12.7) vs. 107.3(8.1); p = 0.035) with significantly fewer PW errors monthly (40.7(13.2) vs. 68.7(9.3); p = 0.046) and no difference in DM errors monthly (37.0(2.0) vs. 38.7(5.7); p = 0.671).
Medication prescribing errors on a surgical service occurred both from prescription-writing and decision-making. Educational interventions, such as our medication prescribing curriculum, can decrease errors related to prescription writing, however the effect appears diminish over time.
Figure 1
No competing interests reported.
Loading...
Posted 19 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
Invitations sent on 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 07 Mar, 2021
Posted 19 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
Received 22 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
Invitations sent on 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 15 Mar, 2021
On 07 Mar, 2021
Medication prescribing errors are a source of morbidity and mortality on surgical wards, however educational interventions with proven effectiveness to reduce these errors are lacking. Our objective was to design, implement, and assess the effectiveness of a curriculum designed to reduce medication prescribing errors on a surgery service at an academic hospital without electronic order entry.
This was a prospective observational cohort study at a Canadian academic hospital. A medication prescribing curriculum for surgery residents was developed and implemented in July 2019. All general surgery residents (n = 16) at our institution were eligible; 13 (81%) participated. Medication prescribing errors were tracked pre-curriculum implementation (July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019) and post-curriculum (July 1-December 31, 2019). Medication prescribing errors were classified as prescription-writing (PW) or decision-making (DM).
There were 87.5 (14.6) total medication prescribing errors per month in the pre-implementation period with 51.3 (11.9) PW and 36.3 (6.0) DM errors. Post-implementation, there were 78.7 (10.3) total errors monthly with 43.3 (9.5) PW and 35.3 (4.2) DM errors. There were significantly fewer total errors monthly in the first quarter (July–September) of the academic year post-curriculum implementation versus pre-implementation (77.7(12.7) vs. 107.3(8.1); p = 0.035) with significantly fewer PW errors monthly (40.7(13.2) vs. 68.7(9.3); p = 0.046) and no difference in DM errors monthly (37.0(2.0) vs. 38.7(5.7); p = 0.671).
Medication prescribing errors on a surgical service occurred both from prescription-writing and decision-making. Educational interventions, such as our medication prescribing curriculum, can decrease errors related to prescription writing, however the effect appears diminish over time.
Figure 1
Loading...