Identifying medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit in two hospitals in Rwanda: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Medication errors remain to be a main health problem causing avoidable morbidity and mortality in most populations. Medication errors are the principal cause of incidents in patient safety and result in severe injury, disability, and death. Prescription and medication administration errors appear to be the most prevalent. There is limited information about medication errors in Rwanda, particularly among hospitalized neonates. Aim of the study: This study aimed to identify prescription and medication administration errors among neonatal files at two selected neonatal units in Rwanda. Method: Retrospective cross-sectional research was done on two neonatal intensive care units at two hospitals over a three-month period. Demographic information, drug information, and the total number of prescriptions for each neonate were extracted from medical records and assessed. The instrument was developed from the literature, and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 256 medical records were checked for prescription and administration errors. The most common medication errors were lack of time of order in the prescription phase 184(71.9%) and dosing intervals were not respected in the administration phase or failure to give drugs on time and 42(17%), which is the higher number. Conclusion The most common medication error was not giving the drug to the patient, including the dosing interval in Neonatal units, there was often a lack of time on the order in prescription. To reduce medication errors in newborn units, health care providers must enhance their knowledge in medication errors prevention.