Factors influencing paediatric nurses' responses to medication administration

Objective To evaluate the importance of contextual and policy factors on nurses' judgement about medication administration practice. Design A questionnaire survey of responses to a number of factorial vignettes in June 2004. These vignettes considered a combination of seven contextual and policy factors that were thought to influence nurses' judgements relating to medication administration. Participants 185 (67% of eligible) clinical paediatric nursing staff returned completed questionnaires. Setting A tertiary paediatric hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Results Double checking the patient, double checking the drug and checking the legality of the prescription were the three strongest predictors of nurses' actions regarding medication administration. Conclusions Policy factors, and not contextual factors, drive nurses' judgement in response to hypothetical scenarios.