Benchmark - Capstone Project Change Proposal

Running Head: PICOT Question 1

PICOT Question Paper 3

PICOT Question-Capstone Project

Abraham Musa

Grand Canyon University

06/07/2020.

PICOT Question Paper

Capstone project topic Question

How to avoid medication errors in pediatrics?

PICOT statement

In pediatric (P), how does knowledge and instructions of medication administration to the nursing staff (I) compared to no knowledge and instructions of medication administration (C) affect the reduction of medication error (O) over a period of 6 months (T).

P- In a population of neonates and infants in a pediatric department, errors in medication could be reduced by providing the nursing staff with appropriate knowledge and instructions about the correct administration of the medicines.

I- It is an important responsibility of the nurses to administer, dispense, and monitor the correct dose and technique of giving the medication to the patients. Hence, the nursing staff is in a better position to protect pediatric patients from the harmful effects of medication errors. Infants and neonates are at much higher risk of being affected by medication errors as compared to adults (Hughes, R. G., & Edgerton, E. A. 2005). Therefore, careful preventive measures should be taken to protect them from any harmful situation. Several interventions could be implemented to reduce medication errors, particularly in the pediatric department.

In the current capstone project change proposal, the nursing intervention proposed is the provision of instructions and knowledge to the nursing staff regarding the proper administration of medication. There are five rights of medication administration that should be followed by the nurses.

1) right patient

2) right drug

3) right dose

4) right time

5) right route

If all the above 5 rights are followed by the nursing staff, then medication errors in pediatrics could be reduced to a lower level. Before following the above rights of drug administration, it is important to account for the proficiency and skills of nurses regarding the application of these steps. Furthermore, it is also important to explore and identify the possible causes that could potentially lead to medication errors by the nursing staff.

C- The comparative analysis of the nursing staff upon whom the intervention is applied is compared with the nursing staff who are not provided with the proposed intervention. The results are analyzed, and recommendations are made based on conclusions drawn.

Clinical problem and patient outcome

O- In the PICOT statement, a solution for medication errors is proposed. In the pediatric department, medication errors are reduced by providing the nursing staff with appropriate knowledge and instructions about the correct administration of the medicines.

T- This intervention is applied to the nursing staff working in the pediatric department of the hospital for a period of 6 months. To implement the proposed solution, certain steps should be followed to control the situation. These preventive missteps include:

1) assessing the proficiency skills of calculation of the correct dose of medication.

2) selecting the alternative drugs that are suitable for infants and neonates

3) improving the pharmacological knowledge of nurses regarding drug administration

4) application of interventions to decrease distractions of nursing staff

5) assessing the level of pain of the patient before administrating analgesics

References.

Izadpanah, F., Kashani, H. H., & Sharif, M. R. (2015). Preventing Medicine mistakes in pediatric

and neonatal patients. Journal of medicine and life, 8(Spec Iss 3), 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5348929/

Macdonald, M. (2010). Patient safety: Examining the adequacy of the 5 rights of medication

administration. Clinical nurse specialist, 24(4), 196-201. https://journals.lww.com/cnsjournal/Abstract/2010/07000/Patient_Safety__Examining_the_Adequacy_of_the_5.8.aspx

Westbrook, J. I., Woods, A., Rob, M. I., Dunsmuir, W. T., & Day, R. O. (2010). Association of

interruptions with an increased risk and severity of medication administration

errors. Archives of Internal medicine, 170(8), 683-690. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/415843

Pauly-O'Neill, S. (2009). Beyond the five rights: Improving patient safety in pediatric medication

administration through simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 5(5), e181-e186.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1876139909004897