Journal Article

Effectiveness of a ‘Do not interrupt’ bundled intervention to reduce interruptions during medication administration: a cluster randomised controlled feasibility study

Hooper, Tamara D, Westbrook, Johanna I, Li, Ling, Lehnbom, Elin C, Raban, Magda Z, Middleton, Sandy

2017

Overview

AimTo evaluate the effectiveness of a ‘Do not interrupt’ bundled intervention to reduce non-medication-related interruptions to nurses during medication administration.MethodsA parallel eight cluster randomised controlled study was conducted in a major teaching hospital in Adelaide, Australia. Four wards were randomised to the intervention which comprised wearing a vest when administering medications; strategies for diverting interruptions; clinician and patient education; and reminders. Control wards were blinded to the intervention. Structured direct observations of medication administration processes were conducted. The primary outcome was non-medication-related interruptions during individual medication dose administrations. The secondary outcomes were total interruption and multitasking rates. A survey of nurses' experiences was administered.ResultsOver 8 weeks and 364.7 hours, 227 nurses were observed administering 4781 medications. At baseline, nurses experienced 57 interruptions/100 administrations, 87.9% were unrelated to the medication task being observed. Intervention wards experienced a significant reduction in non-medication-related interruptions from 50/100 administrations (95% CI 45 to 55) to 34/100 (95% CI 30 to 38). Controlling for clustering, ward type and medication route showed a significant reduction of 15 non-medication-related interruptions/100 administrations compared with control wards. A total of 88 nurses (38.8%) completed the poststudy survey. Intervention ward nurses reported that vests were time consuming, cumbersome and hot. Only 48% indicated that they would support the intervention becoming hospital policy.DiscussionNurses experienced a high rate of interruptions. Few were related to the medication task, demonstrating considerable scope to reduce unnecessary interruptions. While the intervention was associated with a statistically significant decline in non-medication-related interruptions, the magnitude of this reduction and its likely impact on error rates should be considered, relative to the effectiveness of alternate interventions, associated costs, likely acceptability and long-term sustainability of such interventions.

• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group LTD,BMJ Publishing Group
• Subject: Australia / Data collection / Drug administration / Drugs / Feasibility Studies / Hospitals / Hospitals, Teaching - organization & administration / Humans / Intensive care / Intervention / Medical errors / Medication Errors - nursing / Medication Errors - prevention & control / Medication Systems, Hospital - organization & administration / Medication Systems, Hospital - standards / Nurses / Nursing Staff, Hospital - organization & administration / Nursing Staff, Hospital - standards / Original Research / Patients / Performance evaluation / Safety Management - organization & administration / Single-Blind Method