Nurses who worked in hospitals that were understaffed, had inadequate medical resources and who had high rates of overtime were most likely to report that patients had been the victims of medication mistakes, a survey finds.
The report, published Wednesday by Statistics Canada, shows that medication mistakes are quite common in Canadian hospitals.
Nineteen per cent of registered nurses said that in the year before the survey, medication errors that they had witnessed had occurred "occasionally" or "frequently."
This type of error was significantly related to overtime work by nurses. When nurses worked overtime, 22 per cent reported medication mistakes, versus 14 per cent of those with regular shifts.
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If you are a nurse we would like to hear from you on this story. Can you relate to the findings of the study? What's been your experience?
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The report, published Wednesday by Statistics Canada, shows that medication mistakes are quite common in Canadian hospitals.
Nineteen per cent of registered nurses said that in the year before the survey, medication errors that they had witnessed had occurred "occasionally" or "frequently."
This type of error was significantly related to overtime work by nurses. When nurses worked overtime, 22 per cent reported medication mistakes, versus 14 per cent of those with regular shifts.
Full story
If you are a nurse we would like to hear from you on this story. Can you relate to the findings of the study? What's been your experience?
More...