Assessment of the Nurse Medication Administration Workflow Process

This paper presents findings of an observational study of the Registered Nurse (RN) Medication Administration Process (MAP) conducted on two comparable medical units in a large urban tertiary care medical center in Columbia, South Carolina. A total of 305 individual MAP observations were recorded ov...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nathan Huynh, Rita Snyder, José M. Vidal, Omor Sharif, Bo Cai, Bridgette Parsons, Kevin Bennett
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2016-01-01
Series:Journal of Healthcare Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/6823185
Description
Summary:This paper presents findings of an observational study of the Registered Nurse (RN) Medication Administration Process (MAP) conducted on two comparable medical units in a large urban tertiary care medical center in Columbia, South Carolina. A total of 305 individual MAP observations were recorded over a 6-week period with an average of 5 MAP observations per RN participant for both clinical units. A key MAP variation was identified in terms of unbundled versus bundled MAP performance. In the unbundled workflow, an RN engages in the MAP by performing only MAP tasks during a care episode. In the bundled workflow, an RN completes medication administration along with other patient care responsibilities during the care episode. Using a discrete-event simulation model, this paper addresses the difference between unbundled and bundled workflow and their effects on simulated redesign interventions.
ISSN:2040-2295
2040-2309