EXPLORING NURSES' PERCEPTIONS OF THE MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION PROCESS AND THE BARRIERS PRESENT

Abstract

Background: Medication administration is one of the many processes carried out by Registered Nurses (RNs). The whole medication administration process (MAP) begins with the verification of doctor’s order and ends with the patient’s consumption of the medication. Being the one directly involved and the last in line, their perceptions on the MAP are valuable. Perceptions may include: their feelings, thoughts, or frustrations of the MAP. Aim: This study aims to describe RNs’ perceptions towards the MAP and the barriers present. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was adopted. Purposive sampling recruited 12 RNs for four separate focus group discussions. A semi-structured discussion guide was used to collect data during the discussions. Braun and Clarke’s framework for thematic analysis was used to guide data analysis. Results: Four themes emerged regarding nurses’ perceptions of the MAP: (1) Responsibility, (2) Work Process, (3) Interprofessional Factors and (4) Focus. Nurses were aware of their own responsibility at work, voicing out how different work processes and interprofessional factors impact the MAP. Additionally, distractions and multiple concurrent activities led to inability to focus on the MAP. Conclusion: Study findings provided valuable insights on the nurses’ perceptions of the MAP. Findings suggest that awareness on medication safety needs to be emphasised to reduce incidences of interruptions during the MAP. Guidelines on communication between HCPs could be set in place to improve the MAP for the nurses. Protocols and workflow processes could also be revised to streamline the MAP for the nurses, as they were found to increase the workload of nurses. This research study serves as a basis for future research to further explore nurses’ perceptions of the MAP and the barriers present, especially in other settings or stages of the MAP, to improve nurses’ capability during the MAP.