The Magnitude of Medication Administration Errors among Nurses in Ethiopia: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Introduction: Nurses are the final safety check in the process of medication administration process to prevent errors that adversely affect life; yet death of comprehensive evidences in Ethiopia. The present study aimed to assess the pooled magnitude of MAEs (Medication Administration Errors) in Ethiopia.

Methods: Systematic literature search in the databases of Pub-Med, Cochrane, and Google Scholar for gray literature were performed until December 3, 2018. The quality of study was assessed using criteria adopted from similar studies. Heterogeneity test and evidence of publication bias were assessed. Moreover, sensitivity analysis was also performed. Pooled prevalence of MAE was calculated using the random effects model.

Results: A total of 2142 medication administrations were from observational and 681from selfreported studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The most prevalent and frequently reported type of MAEs was documentation error (52% to 87.5%) and time error (25.5% to 58.5%) respectively. Overall, the pooled magnitude of MAE was found to be 39.3% (95% CI, 29.1%-49.5%).It has no evidence of significant heterogeneity (I2 = 0%, P = 0.57) and publication bias Egger’s test (P = 0.40).

Conclusion: Overall, more than one in four observed/perceived medication administrations had errors. Documentation error is the most prevalent type of error. Nurses are suggested to strengthen their focus on the rights of medication administration guide particularly, documentation of their activities need special attention.