OBJECTIVE: To determine what components of a checklist contribute to effective detection of medication errors at the bedside.
DESIGN: High-fidelity simulation study of outpatient chemotherapy administration.
SETTING: Usability laboratory.
PARTICIPANTS: Nurses from an outpatient chemotherapy unit, who used two different checklists to identify four categories of medication administration errors.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates of specified types of errors related to medication administration.
RESULTS: As few as 0% and as many as 90% of each type of error were detected. Error detection varied as a function of error type and checklist used. Specific step-by-step instructions were more effective than abstract general reminders in helping nurses to detect errors. Adding a specific instruction to check the patient's identification improved error detection in this category by 65 percentage points. Matching the sequence of items on the checklist with nurses' workflow had a positive impact on the ease of use and efficiency of the checklist.
CONCLUSIONS: Checklists designed with explicit step-by-step instructions are useful for detecting specific errors when a care provider is required to perform a long series of mechanistic tasks under a high cognitive load. Further research is needed to determine how best to assist clinicians in switching between mechanistic tasks and abstract clinical problem solving.
}, year = {2010}, journal = {Qual Saf Health Care}, volume = {19}, pages = {562-7}, month = {12/2010}, issn = {1475-3901}, doi = {10.1136/qshc.2009.032862}, language = {eng}, }