Medication errors in emergency departments: is electronic medical record an effective barrier?

OBJECTIVE: To compare medication errors in two emergency departments with electronic medical record, to two departments that had conventional handwritten records at the same organization. METHODS: A cross-sectional, retrospective, descriptive, comparative study of medication errors and their classification, according to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, associated with the use of electronic and conventional medical records, in emergency departments of the same organization, during one year. RESULTS: There were 88 events per million opportunities in the departments with electronic medical record and 164 events per million opportunities in the units with conventional medical records. There were more medication errors when using conventional medical record - in 9 of 14 categories of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention. CONCLUSION: The emergency departments using electronic medical records presented lower levels of medication errors, and contributed to a continuous improvement in patients´ safety.

Medication errors in emergency departments: is electronic medical record an effective barrier? / Erros de medicação em unidades de pronto atendimento: prontuário eletrônico, barreira eficaz?

ABSTRACT Objective: To compare medication errors in two emergency departments with electronic medical record, to two departments that had conventional handwritten records at the same organization. Methods: A cross-sectional, retrospective, descriptive, comparative study of medication errors and their classification, according to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, associated with the use of electronic and conventional medical records, in emergency departments of the same organization, during one year. Results: There were 88 events per million opportunities in the departments with electronic medical record and 164 events per million opportunities in the units with conventional medical records. There were more medication errors when using conventional medical record - in 9 of 14 categories of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention. Conclusion: The emergency departments using electronic medical records presented lower levels of medication errors, and contributed to a continuous improvement in patients´ safety.

RESUMO Objetivo: Comparar os erros de medicações de duas unidades de pronto atendimento que possuíam prontuário eletrônico aos de duas unidades que possuíam prontuário convencional manual em uma mesma instituição. Métodos: Estudo transversal, retrospectivo, descritivo, que comparou a incidência de erros de medicações e sua classificação, segundo o National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, associado ao uso do prontuário eletrônico e do convencional, em unidades de pronto atendimento de uma mesma instituição por um ano. Resultados: Foram observados 88 eventos por milhão de oportunidades nas unidades com prontuário eletrônico e 164 por milhão de oportunidades nas unidades com prontuário convencional. Houve mais erros de medicações nas unidades com prontuário convencional − em 9 das 14 categorias da National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention analisadas. Conclusão: Com a utilização do prontuário eletrônico, as unidades de pronto atendimento apresentaram menores índices de erros de medicações, contribuindo para melhoria continuada na segurança do paciente.

Measuring hand hygiene compliance rates at hospital entrances.

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of hand hygiene in the health care setting, there are no studies evaluating hand hygiene compliance at hospital entrances. METHODS: The study was prospectively performed over a 33-week period from March 30, 2014-November 15, 2014, to evaluate hand hygiene compliance in 2 hospital reception areas. We compared electronic handwash counters with the application of radiofrequency identification (GOJO SMARTLINK) (electronic observer) that counts each activation of alcohol gel dispensers to direct observation (human observer) via remote review of video surveillance. RESULTS: We found low hand hygiene compliance rates of 2.2% (99/4,412) and 1.7% (140/8,277), respectively, at reception areas A and D, detected by direct observation. Using the electronic observer, we measured rates of 17% (15,624/91,724) and 7.1% (51,605/730,357) at reception areas A and D, respectively. For the overall time period of simultaneous electronic and human observation, the human observer captured 1% of the hand hygiene episodes detected by the electronic observer. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed very low hand hygiene compliance in hospital reception areas, and we found an electronic hand hygiene system to be a useful method to monitor hand hygiene compliance.

[Nurses' perception on the results of quality indicators for the improvement of professional practice]. / Percepção dos enfermeiros sobre os resultados dos indicadores de qualidade na melhoria da prática assistencial.

The quality control strategies plays an important role to nurses as they become more involved and qualified to improve the care provided. The purpose of this study was to diagnose the perception of nurses at a private hospital on the nursing quality processes applied to care improvement. This is a descriptive-exploratory study whose sample was composed by 19 nurses from care units. Results demonstrated that nurses considered the use of results from indicators to be a strategic tool for the institution, and their perceptions have confirmed the validity of care improvement practices using quality tools and indicators, emphasizing that follow up of process flaws can be a possible suggestion towards quality improvement.

Percepção dos enfermeiros sobre os resultados dos indicadores de qualidade na melhoria da prática assistencial / Nurses' perception on the results of quality indicators for the improvement of professional practice / Percepción de enfermeros sobre resultados de los indicadores de calidad para mejora de la práctica profesional

As estratégias de controle da qualidade assumem um significado importante para os enfermeiros, tornando-os mais envolvidos e competentes para aperfeiçoarem a qualidade do cuidado prestado. Esse estudo teve como objetivo diagnosticar a percepção dos enfermeiros de um hospital privado sobre os processos de qualidade em enfermagem aplicados à melhoria da assistência. É um estudo descritivo-exploratório cuja amostra foi de19 enfermeiros. Resultados demonstraram que os mesmos consideraram a utilização dos resultados dos indicadores um instrumento estratégico, e que sua percepção corrobora a prática de melhoria assistencial por meio da utilização de ferramentas e indicadores de qualidade com ênfase no registro de falhas no processo como possíveis sugestões de melhoria da qualidade.

The quality control strategies plays an important role to nurses as they become more involved and qualified to improve the care provided. The purpose of this study was to diagnose the perception of nurses at a private hospital on the nursing quality processes applied to care improvement. This is a descriptive-exploratory study whose sample was composed by 19 nurses from care units. Results demonstrated that nurses considered the use of results from indicators to be a strategic tool for the institution, and their perceptions have confirmed the validity of care improvement practices using quality tools and indicators, emphasizing that follow up of process flaws can be a possible suggestion towards quality improvement.

Las estrategias de control de la calidad asumem un significado importante para los enfermeros, los vuelvendo más involucrados e capacitados para perfeccionarem la calidad del cuidado prestado. El objetivo fue diagnosticar la percepción de los enfermeros sobre los procesos de cualidad en enfermería aplicados a la mejora de la asistencia. Es un estudio descriptivo-exploratório cuya muestra fue compuesta por 19 enfermeros. Resultados demonstraran que ellos consideran la utilización de los resultados de los indicadores un instrumento estratégico, y que la percepción corrobora la práctica de mejora asistencial por medio de la utilización de herramientas y indicadores de cualidad con énfasis en el registro de fallas en el proceso como posibles sugerencias de mejora de la cualidad.