Evaluation of nurses' knowledge and performance regarding preparation and injection of intravenous drugs in pediatric wards in Iran

BACKGROUND: A error in intravenous injection in pediatric wards can cause irreparable injuries. This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and performance of nurses in terms of preparation and injection of intravenous drugs in pediatric wards of hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on 156 nurses working in pediatric wards. The data was collected with demographic information questionnaire and the knowledge and performance of the participants were determined using a researcher-made questionnaire, including the five rights of medication administration (preparation and injection, medication error, drug side effects, family empowerment, and documentation) using self-reporting and observation methods. Formal and content validity was calculated using the opinions of 10 experts and Cronbach's alpha with 40 samples. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of total nurses' knowledge and performance scores were 58.31 + 10.1 and 66.1 + 14.4, respectively. Moreover, the mean and standard deviation of nurses' knowledge scores were 63.55 + 14.3 for documentation, 46.1 + 7.9 for preparation and injection, 73.9 + 12.3 for drug side effects, 58.4 + 10.2 for medication error, and 69.4 + 9.4 for family empowerment. Besides, the mean performance was 69.1 + 17.6 for documentation, 61.3 ± 9.9 for preparation and injection, 78.21 + 12 for drug side effects, 58.6 + 15 for medication error, and 65.4 + 17.7 for family empowerment. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the mean knowledge and pharmacological performance of nurses working in pediatric wards in different areas of the principles of medicine were not at the desired level, and this can affect children adversely.