Workload and errors during medication administration: A systematic review

Abstract

Errors during patient care in hospital and community areas occur daily and the conditions in which nursing staff perform their work influence the incidence of these types of events. The objective of this literature review is to identify the relationship between work overload and errors during medication administration by nursing staff. This research work is in the form of a literature review, for which different databases were used such as: PubMed, Scopus, Scielo and LILACS. A total of 27 articles were analyzed, of which 80% contain data indicating the relationship between excessive workload and errors committed in nursing care. The direct proportional relationship that probably exists between work overload and the occurrence of errors in medication administration cannot be denied; strategies to reduce these events based on patient safety must be applied and taught from the beginning of the training of nursing professionals.