Are There Obstacles Faced by Nurses in Administering High Alert Medication (HAM) Safely? A Scoping Review

Abstract

High-Alert Medication (HAM) is one of the three main factors causing adverse drug reactions if errors occur in their management or administration.Nurses play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of medication administration.However, there are several barriers that nurses face in identifying and ensuring its safe management and administration.This study aims to summarize the barriers in HAM management and the strategies to enhance its safety based on the perceptions of nurses.This study employs a scoping review, with a systematic literature search conducted across five databases: Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, PubMed, and Google Scholar.The search focused on English-language articles from the past six years (2019-2024) that are related to the main topic of discussion.Fourty articles were selected, and 10 (n = 10) were considered relevant to the review after a full-text review.All of the studies were cross sectional studies and more than half of the studies (n = 7) were conducted in Asia.Based on the analysis of 10 articles, the barriers nurses face in managing the administration of HAM include a lack of knowledge and training on its administration and regulations, nonstandardized operational procedures, and insufficient interpersonal communication as well as organizational culture regarding safety.Conclusion: Improving knowledge, education, training, the establishment of procedures, communication, and organizational culture are some strategies to reduce the barriers nurses face in managing HAM administration.

Access to Document

Other files and links

• Link to publication in Scopus
• Open Access Version Available

Fingerprint