Nursing student perceptions of pharmacology education and safe medication administration: A qualitative research study.

PURPOSE: This research study was performed to elicit student nurses' perceptions of the impact of pharmacology in education on safe medication administration.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe student perceptions of the relationship between pharmacology education and safe clinical practice. Nurse educators will gain insights into students' perceptions of the significance of pharmacology in baccalaureate curricula.

BACKGROUND: A lack of adequate pharmacological knowledge in nursing has been shown to lead to increased medication errors. Safe administration of medication has been identified as a major area for focus in improving health care.

DESIGN: This study was an analysis of qualitative data collected as part of a larger study. Students provided narrative, open-ended responses describing how pharmacology education impacted safe medication administration.

PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 28 RN-BSN students and 71 traditional BSN students.

SETTING: The research was conducted at a college in the Northeastern United States. Data was collected from students enrolled in the traditional baccalaureate and nontraditional RN-BSN hybrid programs.

METHODS: In the full study, students completed a brief survey instrument, which included both quantitative and open-ended items. The qualitative data presented in this article was analyzed using conventional content analysis.

RESULTS: Students described the impact of pharmacology education as either having a positive or negative effect on safe medication administration. The majority of students described a positive effect. Positive responses were characterized into the following themes: Knowing how medications work, Improving the nursing process, and Building a foundation of clinical knowledge. Negative responses were more heavily endorsed by RN-BSN students. The negative responses were substantiated by one theme: Inability to transfer from didactic to clinical practice.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study are significant to education as nursing schools struggle to develop curriculum to prepare students for safe medication practice in today's fast-paced and demanding healthcare environment.