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Medication Safety Competence of Undergraduate Nursing Students

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2020, Doctor of Nursing Practice , Case Western Reserve University, School of Nursing.
Patient medication administration is one of the major responsibilities of the professional nurse. Pre-licensure nursing students and new nursing graduates often lack competency to safely administer medications. Nursing educators teach and evaluate safe medication administration by undergraduate bachelor of science nursing (BSN) students during sophomore year. These students are expected to demonstrate safe medication competence through senior year and post-licensure. The purpose of this study was to determine the medication safety competence of undergraduate junior and senior BSN students. A descriptive comparison design of undergraduate BSN students from two cohorts was used to collect data at an urban, public university in Northeast Ohio. The convenience sample included 188 BSN students who agreed to participate in the simulation study, comprised of 98 juniors and 90 seniors. Data was collected over two weeks via observation and focused on the six rights of medication administration using the Medication Administration Safety Assessment Tool (MASAT). Analyses included descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests to compare the medication competency of juniors and seniors. Results revealed 29.6% of juniors and 14.4% of seniors demonstrated competence on all eight medication checklist items on the MASAT. The difference between the medication safety competence of juniors and seniors on total MASAT scores did not show statistical significance (p > .05). On individual MASAT scores, there was no statistical significance (p > .05) between juniors and seniors on checklist items one through seven corresponding to right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, and right time. Results showed statistical significance (p < .01) on checklist item eight, indicating juniors performed right documentation more frequently than seniors. Two additional analyses revealed (1) no statistical significance (p > .05) between juniors and seniors asking about medication allergies, and (2) statistical significance (p < .01) between juniors and seniors completing three medication checks, with juniors demonstrating greater competency than seniors. The perception of medication safety competence by junior and senior BSN students was evaluated following completion of the simulation experience via online survey of open-ended questions. Junior and senior responses were separated and divided into the top three most common response themes for each of the four questions. Findings from this study provide nursing faculty educators with information regarding medication safety competency of upper level nursing students. This information can guide undergraduate curriculum planning to improve medication safety competencies in pre-licensure students, thus promoting better patient care and outcomes by reducing medication errors.
Celeste Alfes, DNP (Committee Chair)
Elizabeth Zimmermann, DNP (Committee Member)
Amy Weaver, PhD (Committee Member)
87 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fusco, L. A. (2020). Medication Safety Competence of Undergraduate Nursing Students [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casednp158558798038964

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fusco, Lori. Medication Safety Competence of Undergraduate Nursing Students. 2020. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casednp158558798038964.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fusco, Lori. "Medication Safety Competence of Undergraduate Nursing Students." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casednp158558798038964

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)