Nursing Student Medication Administration Practice in the Clinical Setting: A Descriptive Study

Examination of the relationship between nurses' adherence to medication administration principles and their attitudes toward patient safety

BACKGROUND

Preventing errors associated with medication administration is achievable through nurses' adherence to correct principles.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate the relationship between nurses' adherence to medication administration principles and their attitudes toward patient safety.

METHOD

This study adopts a descriptive and relationship-seeking research design. A total of 310 nurses who met the inclusion criteria participated in the study. Data collection tools included the "Nurse Information Form," "Medication Administration Principles Adherence Form," and "Patient Safety Attitude Scale".

RESULTS

Among the participating nurses, 32.9% (n = 102) reported experiencing a medication administration error, and 77.7% (n = 241) witnessed such an error. The study revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between nurses' adherence to medication administration principles and their attitudes toward patient safety (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study underscores the importance of nurses' adherence to medication administration principles in ensuring patient safety.

Undergraduate nursing student experiences in American clinical learning environments: A descriptive study

BACKGROUND

Newly qualified nurses are often considered inadequately prepared for practice. During nursing students' educational preparation, clinical learning environments are intended to provide experiences for students to develop skills and clinical judgments needed for safe practice. Yet, a recent systematic review found no quantitative evidence that clinical education models facilitate student learning. In addition, little is known about the frequency and type of skills students perform when in clinical settings.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate undergraduate nursing student experiences with skills and the quality of supervision and feedback received when performing skills in clinical settings.

DESIGN

Retrospective descriptive.

SETTING

A mid-sized private university in the Midwestern part of the United States.

METHODS

Students completed an online survey after clinical days during one semester. Students self-reported their experiences with medication administration, psychomotor skills and physical assessments via multiple choice items. Descriptive statistics were calculated using Microsoft 365 Excel. Content analysis was performed of one open-response survey item.

RESULTS

A total of 496 surveys were completed. On average, during one clinical day, 13.5 % of students administered medication, 20.5 % performed a psychomotor skill, and 64 % completed a physical assessment. Students were most frequently supervised by bedside nurses and reported the quality of their supervision and feedback as "very good" or "good". Some students reported being restricted from administering medication and performing other skills due to a clinical site policy.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, students performed few skills and assessments when in clinical settings. Increased clinical experiences are needed for students to develop competencies to better prepare them for safe practice. The findings contribute to the dearth of knowledge related to the clinical learning experiences of undergraduate nursing students, and can guide strategies to improve new nurse preparedness.

Nursing Students' Medication Administration: A Focus on Hand Hygiene and Patient Identification

BACKGROUND

Procedural failures during medication administration include a lack of appropriate hand hygiene and failure to verify patient identification prior to administration of medication. Procedural failures are common among nurses and nursing students and can lead to serious patient harm.

METHOD

A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used to collect observational data from a simulation-based experience of a medication administration scenario.

RESULTS

Thirty-five senior baccalaureate nursing students from two geographically distant universities in the United States participated in the study. All of the participants made at least one procedural failure during the simulated experience. Hand hygiene compliance was 40.3%, and patient identification compliance was 43.8%.

CONCLUSION

Students often failed to comply with medication administration safety guidelines. Nursing programs must make changes to the methods used to teach safe medication administration to prepare students for this critical skill. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(7):403-407.].

Nursing Students' Perceptions of Learning With NGN-Style Case Studies

BACKGROUND

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) developed Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) case studies and new test items, based on the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model, to assess nurse graduates' clinical judgment and decision-making ability.

PURPOSE

This study investigated nursing students' perceptions of learning with NGN-style case studies.

METHODS

A mixed-methods approach collected nursing students' perceptions in a 6-item survey.

RESULTS

Overall respondents agreed that the case studies were helpful in learning (n = 45; 90%), applying course concepts (n = 46; 92%), learning clinical judgment (n = 46, 92%), and promoting active learning (n = 43, 86%), and were a useful learning strategy (n = 48, 96%). Themes identified in narrative comments were critical thinking, real-life application, and a learning tool.

CONCLUSIONS

NGN-style case studies were useful as an active learning strategy to promote clinical judgment and real-life application of course concepts.