Table 1.

General characteristics of wards using automated dispensing cabinets and traditional ward stock methods

	ADC group	TWS group
Opportunities for error
Total number of opportunities for error	n=1676	n=1248
General internal medicine department	54% (n=906)	44% (n=548)
Surgery department	46% (n=770)	56% (n=700)
Pill dispenser
Number of pillbox preparations observed	n=364	n=206
Mean number of opportunities for error/pillbox	n=4.6	n=6.1
Wards participating in the ‘More time for patients’ project
General internal medicine department	n=4	n=3
Surgery department	n=2	n=2
Wards not participating in the ‘More time for patients’ project
General internal medicine department	n=0	n=1
Surgery department	n=2	n=2
Nurses’ employment status
Number of nurses observed	n=77	n=55
Hospital employee for <3 months	0% (n=0)	2% (n=1)
Hospital employee for >3 months	77% (n=59)	73% (n=40)
Substitute nurse	1% (n=1)	7% (n=4)
Student nurse	4% (n=3)	5% (n=3)
Agency nurse	18% (n=14)	13% (n=7)
Experience on the ward
<3 months	29% (n=22)	20% (n=11)
>3 months	71% (n=55)	80% (n=44)
Experience with the ADC
<3 months	16% (n=12)
>3 months	84% (n=65)
Nurse’s hours worked at the time of observation
<6 hours	99% (n=76)	100% (n=55)
>6 hours	1% (n=1)	0% (n=0)
Distribution of hours of observation:
8 am	n=30.9%	n=17.6%
12 noon	n=17.9%	n=17.6%
6 pm	n=20.8%	n=21.6%
8 pm	n=18.3%	n=21.6%
10 pm	n=12.2%	n=21.6%

ADC, automated dispensing cabinet; TWS, traditional ward stock.