title: Nurses' perceptions of why medication administration errors occur.
abstract: Nurses play a key role in medication administration in hospital settings. Five categories of reasons for medication errors were identified in a survey of 1,384 nurses. These categories include physician, systems, pharmacy, individual, and knowledge-related factors. In this article, issues surrounding the occurrence and prevention of medication errors are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uden-Holman
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Blegen
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000523:psychology*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires