Table 7.
Variable | Variable measurement† | OR (95% CI) | P value |
---|---|---|---|
All observed types of parenteral drug administration errors | |||
Patient related variables: | |||
No of parenteral administrations | 1 | 1.06 (1.04 to 1.08) | <0.01 |
No of organ failures | 1 | 1.19 (1.05 to 1.34) | <0.01 |
NEMS item: | |||
Basic monitoring | Yes/no | 0.19 (0.07 to 0.49) | <0.01 |
IV medication | Yes/no | 2.73 (1.39 to 5.36) | <0.01 |
Specific interventions in ICU | Yes/no | 1.50 (1.14 to 1.96) | <0.01 |
ICU related variables: | |||
ICU size (beds) | 1 | 1.01 (1.00 to 1.02) | 0.04 |
Patients per nurse | 1 | 1.30 (1.03 to 1.64) | 0.03 |
CIRS in place | Yes/no | 0.69 (0.53 to 0.90) | <0.01 |
Routine check at shift change | Yes/no | 0.68 (0.52 to 0.90) | <0.01 |
Occupancy rate (%) | 10 | 1.03 (1.00 to 1.05) | 0.03 |
Relative turnover | 1 | 0.73 (0.57 to 0.93) | 0.01 |
Errors of commission (wrong dose, wrong drug, wrong route) | |||
Patient related variables: | |||
No of parenteral administrations | 1 | 1.05 (1.02 to 1.07) | <0.01 |
NEMS item: | |||
Multiple vasoactive medication | Yes/no | 2.43 (1.41 to 4.18) | <0.01 |
ICU related variables: | |||
Patients per physician | 1 | 1.12 (1.02 to 1.23) | 0.01 |
CIRS in place | Yes/no | 0.34 (0.22 to 0.52) | <0.01 |
Infusions previously prepared by pharmacist | Yes/no | 2.36 (1.55 to 3.60) | <0.01 |
Errors requiring an intervention | |||
Patient related variables: | |||
No of parenteral administrations | 1 | 1.08 (1.05 to 1.12) | <0.01 |
NEMS item: | |||
Multiple vasoactive medication | Yes/no | 2.63 (1.37 to 5.07) | <0.01 |
Specific interventions outside ICU | Yes/no | 2.25 (1.16 to 4.39) | 0.02 |
ICU related variables: | |||
Electronic prescribing system in use | Yes/no | 0.32 (0.16 to 0.64) | <0.01 |
NEMS=nine equivalents of nursing manpower use score; CIRS=critical incident reporting system.
*Odds ratios calculated by using dependent variable “occurrence of at least one medication error” with patients as unit of analysis. Model accounts for patient and ICU characteristics and different sets of error.
†Increment or binary.