An Automated Medication Dispensing System, Essay Example

The article by Novek et al (2000) address the automated  medication dispensing system (AMDS) technology, which has been implemented widely in the healthcare setting to lower risks associated with medication errors. However, the introduction of the technology has fashioned distrust among the nurses who need to use it to increase accuracy and reduce medical errors (Novek et al, 2000). The evidence showed that the distrust and cynicism by nurses are caused by managerial, technological and social factors in the healthcare facility. In order to dispel this distrust and skepticism, the hospital administrators has put in place strategies to increase the confidence of nurses on AMDS technology. The second article by Atiya et al (2011) observes hospital environments where nurses work that result to stress, as well as burnout. The authors argue that this matter is compounded by overcrowded and poorly designed work spaces in nursing units, which may lead to medical errors, comprising medication errors. The study is founded on nurses’ perception on the way the physical environment in hospitals impacts medication errors. Nurses’ stress and burnout can be reduced through physical environmental considerations, like lighting, enhanced air quality, as well as acoustics (Atiya et al, 2011).

In article by Novek et al (2000) questionnaire method was used to collect the information on finding the source of distrust and skepticism by nurses towards the use of AMDS technology. 158 full-time and part-time registered nurses from Riverview Health Center were supplied with questionnaires to fill so that their reactions to the implementation of the AMDS (Novek et al, 2000). The questionnaires were administered in January 1998. The questionnaires were supplemented by interviews .The questionnaires were designed in a way that it focused on the transition from paper to electronic documentation; the amount of time dedicated to medication administration; possible risks to the patients; perceptions regarding medical errors; and job matters on training , autonomy, and control. In the article by Atiya et al(2011) cross-sectional survey was used with the nursing personnel from four hospitals in 2005 located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (US) where 84 participants were selected. The questionnaires administered for the survey comprised questions on nursing design unit, medication room settings, perceived incidence of errors, and other kinds of nursing errors (Atiya et al, 2011).

In the study by Novek et al (2000), the researchers recruited their respondents based on the fact they were needed to be working either full-time or part-time and are registered nurses at Riverview Health Center. Both males and females were allowed to take part in the study where female accounted for 90% and male 5.9%. the respondents in the study were needed to have 20 years and above, which means that those below the ages of 20 years were excluded from the study and the education level for the respondents was diploma , baccalaureate or higher (Novek et al, 2000).  In the study by by Atiya et al (2011), the researchers recruited 84 nurses, where the majority was female (n=80, 95.2%). The respondents were needed to fall between the ages of 26-55 years. The majority of the respondents were staff members, followed by charge nurses, nurse’s aide, and clinical coordinators (Atiya et al, 2011).

Atiya et al (2011) established the majority of the nurses (n=48, 57.10%) worked in a nursing unit that has centralized nursing station and medication room. The environmental features, which were perceived to be vital, comprised hand washing and disinfection locations. The errors that nurses acknowledged as happening “somewhat frequently” or “very frequently” were missed doses of medication (n=26, 31.3%). Nonetheless, the respondents perceived that the majority of the medication errors that were listed in the survey as happening rarely in their stations. Generally, the participants did not perceive documentation errors as a frequent issue, but 28.9% participants perceived that omission or partial information input in charts took place frequently. In the article by Novek et al (2000), the study showed a significant gap between the anticipations of system performance and what was really experienced every day. The majority of the patient care nurses were optimistic that AMDS would work to reduce medication errors, which will enhance accuracy and effectiveness in drug administration (Novek et al, 2000). The results showed that numerous of these expectations remained unattained. In the questionnaire, nurses reported a low-level of confidence that automation lowered the risk of medication errors. Only 20 percent believed that AMDS lowered the risk of errors, while 30 perceived saw no change and 49% percent perceived amplified risk. The interviews with patient care managers, as well as hospital administrators showed high expectations for the accuracy and effectiveness of the new system.

Novek et al (2000) observe that the AMDS technology will create an environment that will allow nurses to work effectively, thus reducing medication errors. Thus, better communications and training will inspire the nurses to adopt the technology, hence working effectively in their specific nursing environments. Setting realistic expectations should be the key strategy because it was established the prevalent distrust of AMDS technology were influenced by the high expectations and original experience. The technology will undergo changes based on the findings that will be designed to attain computerized control of unit dose medication dispensing all through the healthcare facility (Novek et al, 2000). In Atiya et al (2011), the authors examined different environmental factors that need to be implemented , which include building more storage rooms to provide space for supplies, effective designing of nursing station layout, designing larger rooms for documentation, building capacity to surveillance opportunity, and reducing level of noises in patient care unit. Furthermore, there is the need for proper training of nurses and introducing medical record system (Atiya et al, 2011).

The major limitation of the study by Atiya et al (2011) was its incapacity to include data on actual medication errors. The voluntary Incident Report System utilized in the four hospitals did not reflect the actual error rates, despite being the initial objective of the study. The data collected from the administrators and managers were more three years old making the reliability of the data questionable. The hospitals conducted did have adequate measures for errors (Atiya et al,2011). These results will provide adequate information that will be used by nurses to make the needed changes. In Novek et al (2000), the authors did not use more of past studies to support their arguments and the data used was limited to the scope of the topic.

References

Atiya ,M, Habib C, and  Valente,M.  (2011). Nurses’ perceptions of how physical environment affects medication errors in acute care settings. Applied Nursing Research; 24 229–237

Novek J1, Bettess S, Burke K, Johnston P. (2000). Nurses’ perceptions of the reliability of an automated medication dispensing system. J Nurs Care Qual.; 14(2):1-13.