Nurse's Achilles Heel: using big data to determine workload factors that impact near misses.
Using electronic health records, call light systems, and bar-code medication administration systems, this study examined the impact of six specific workload variables on nurses’ medication administration errors. At least one of the six variables was significantly associated with the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a near miss medication error in the majority of nurses. Because the specific variable(s) differed for each individual nurse, interventions addressing medication administration errors should be tailored to individual nurse risk factors.