CONTACT - Volume 9, Number 1
Nurses' Silence on Medication Administration Errors

Daniel J. Little, MBA, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor of Nursing

Presenting at ICN was one of the most interesting professional activities I have participated in. The conference was filled with a sea of strangers, many dressed in a variety of native costumes reflecting their nationality and ethnic origins. The pageantry and splendor of the opening events were a wondrous sight to behold. The city was very modern, clean and had an incredibly intricate transportation system of buses, trains, trams, trolleys, bicycles, roller-skates, skate boards, boats, hydrofoils, gondolas, ferries, and very few cars.

My presentation on medication administration errors was attended by 150 or more nurses. The high point was that I finished early and had enough time to engage in some audience interaction. The overwhelming response of the participants was that the problem of medication administration errors was a current and burgeoning professional issue in most of their countries. The other major response was unanimous agreement that the "blame-game", which encourages many nurses to be silent about reporting medication errors, also contributed to a crisis of confidence in the nursing systems which failed to examine the systems errors that contributed to the incidence of error occurrence and reoccurrence. It was gratifying to discover that the problem in which I was interested was not only an American problem, but that the problem existed in most developed nursing systems.

On a final note, I have received more that 15 requests for information regarding the references and findings related to my presentation from international and national peers who are also interested in the issue of medication administration errors. I have recently received a request from the Nursing Leadership Forum to submit a manuscript based on my research as presented at ICN.