Browsing by Author "Oyinbo, O.M."

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    Perioperative medication errors among anaesthesia service providers in Namibia - A retrospective survey
    (University of Namibia, 2025) Oyinbo, O.M.; Rukewe, Ambrose
    Medication administration errors are widespread across the healthcare system resulting in huge human and financial costs. Notably, drug administration errors are a major reason for malpractice claim against anaesthesia service providers. The outcomes of medication errors range from no harm and to the grievous events such as intensive care admissions or death, nonetheless they are preventable. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of the common perioperative medication administration errors among anaesthesia service providers in Namibia, identify the contributing factors and assess their outcomes on patients. METHODOLOGY This was a descriptive, retrospective survey among specialist anaesthesiologists, anaesthesia registrars and medical officers across the 34 public hospitals and 18 private hospitals in Namibia over a period of one month. A confidential, self administered structured questionnaire was shared with participants via the email, phone and as a web-based survey. RESULTS Out of 122 questionnaires shared, 112 (92%) anaesthesia providers responded. There were slightly more female participants, 58 (52%) than males and mostly medical officers (56%). Among the respondents, 88 (79%) indicated that they had committed one or more medication errors during their anaesthesia practice. The commonest type was omission (46%), followed by the administration of a wrong drug (27%). In 69% cases, there was no harm to the patients while 6% had HDU/ICU admissions and 1 (0.9%) died. CONCLUSION This index study found a high prevalence of medication administration errors among the practitioners, comparable with many studies. Majority of patients did not suffer any harm. Most respondents blamed the occurrence of errors on distractions/fatigue. It is important to increase awareness and training for prevention as well as set up a nationally coordinated incident reporting system for perioperative drug administration errors in Namibia