Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
Setting
The survey was undertaken in the Townsend Hospital, a six-ward,
105-bed inpatient unit for older adults with mental disorder. The
hospital is a part of St Andrew’s Healthcare, a UK charitable sector
provider of mental health care. The observational study took place
on two wards, here called Ward A and Ward B. Ward A is a 13-bed
mixed-sex, locked ward for older people with dementia and
challenging behaviour. Ward B is a 20-bed mixed-sex ward for
physically frail older adults with enduring mental illness including
dementia, and offers nursing-home type care.
Participants
All nurses (N=49) were invited to participate in the survey. All
nurses from Wards A and B (N=12) were asked to participate in the
observational research.
Procedure
The study was approved by an NHS Research Ethics Committee.
The questionnaire was distributed in December 2005, consent was
assumed by its return and participation was anonymous.
Written, informed consent was sought from nurses for participation
in the observational study. Observation was undertaken by two of
the researchers. JS recorded the activity of the administering nurse
(e.g. medication given, whether tablets were crushed, use of single
or dual nurse administration) while GD recorded notes about
environmental distractions and patient activity. Nurses were told the
observers were looking at the difficulties with medication
administration including medication errors. The study took place on
Ward A during March 2005, and on Ward B during June and July
2005. MAE’s were detected by comparing observational data with
medication charts, and were assigned an error type and error
severity rating by consensus between all three researchers. Each
medication round was discussed on its completion by the observers
in order to identify salient issues.
Numerical data for both the survey and observational studies was
entered into SPSS 14.0 (SPSS, 2005) for analysis.
RESULTS
Survey of Registered Nurses.
Twenty seven (55.1%) completed questionnaires were returned.
Twelve (44.4%) respondents had been qualified for more than five
years, and two (7.4%) for less than one year. Twenty respondents
(74.1%) were D or E grade nurses and the remaining seven
(25.9%) were F grade and above. Twenty three (85.2%)
respondents stated they had undergone some form of training in
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