Assessment of nurses’ knowledge concerning medication administration errors at pediatric wards

Background: Medication errors (MAEs) are prevalent among healthcare teams and can put all patients at risk, but children in particular, who are at greater risk for medication errors. Medication errors can impact children's safety and are more common in children than in other populations. Medication errors account for 18% of all medical errors and are considered one of the top 10 causes of death. Objectives: To evaluate the demographic data of the participants and to assess nurses' knowledge about errors related to medication administration. Methodology: A descriptive study to determine the assessment of nurses’ knowledge about medication errors. The target group of the study was a non-probability “purposive sample” of (100) male and female nurses working in Basra Teaching Hospital and the Specialized Children’s Hospital in Basra Governorate. Results: The results revealed that about (50%) of the nurses had an average level of knowledge, (41.7%) of the nurses had a good level of knowledge and only (8.3%) of the nurses had a poor level of knowledge regarding medication errors.