(80) Transformative Use of Simulation to Safeguard Patients through Enhancing Students’ Knowledge and Competency in Safe Medication Practices

Abstract: Safe medication administration constitutes an essential nursing function (Mariani et al., 2017), yet prelicensure students typically lack practical experience with the process, increasing their risk of errors (Asensi-Vicente et al., 2018). Although some work has been done in the arena of safe medication administration simulations (Craig et al., 2021; Mariani et al., 2017), a gap exists in the literature regarding simulations to enhance the students’ knowledge of and competency in safe medication administration practices.
This study explored whether exposure in simulation to the cognitive and psychomotor skills of medication administration improve knowledge and application of safe medication administration practices. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory constituted the theoretical foundation for this experiential learning activity study.
This study employed a two-group pretest-posttest design in which 88 pre-licensure learners completed the Medication Safety Knowledge Assessment (MSKA) prior to the SBLE, and then participated individually in a safe medication administration simulation. All participants completed the simulation twice, with a debriefing after the first SBLE. The control group completed the posttest (MSKA) after the first simulation and the intervention group after the second, with medication administration practice rated throughout using the Medication Safety Critical Element Checklist (MSCEC).
Data were analyzed using SPSS (IBM, 2019) using parametric and non-parametric comparison of mean scores and revealed statistically significant differences between control and intervention groups. The findings support the SBLE’s ability to enhance the students’ safe medication administration practices.