Medication administration errors: A concept analysis

Aim To provide an analysis of the concept of medication errors that occur during the nursing task of medication administration. Background Medication errors occurring during medication administration have an increased risk for an adverse patient outcome. Many terms are associated with medication errors, with limited clarification for a medication administration error at the point of care delivery. Data Sources Twenty‐seven sources were chosen from database searches of PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Scopus. Key search terms used to narrow the search consist of the following terminology: (“bedside” OR “point‐of‐care” OR “nursing care*”) AND “medication administration errors” AND (“acute care”). Review Methods Rodger's evolutionary method of concept analysis was used to clarify the concept of medication administration error. Results The concept analysis identified three attributes of a medication administration error: nurse‐provided care, administration, and point of care. Antecedents identified in the analysis are organizational factors and nurse factors. Consequences identified in the analysis are patient, nurse and organizational themes. Conclusion The continued occurrence of medication administration errors warrants the need for an investigation into existing safety measures. Using this concept analysis may help guide the study of the healthcare environment and determine empirical measures to assess the impact that a medication administration error has.