Differences in Perioperative Medication Errors With Regard to Organization Characteristics

ABSTRACT
• RESEARCHERS CONDUCTED a descriptive, comparative, secondary analysis using a national database to investigate differences in perioperative medication error characteristics with regard to organization characteristics.
• PERIOPERATIVE MEDICATION ERROR records reported to the MEDMARX database between Sept 1, 1998, and Aug 31, 2003, were examined (N = 5,210), and variables were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistically significant differences were found for three out of four research questions.
• THE STUDY'S FINDINGS provide a foundation for perioperative medication error analysis and serve as a starting point for organizations to begin investigating the medication error problem in their facilities.