Lichtner, V;
Prgomet, M;
Gates, P;
Franklin, BD;
Westbrook, JI;
(2021)
Challenges of Digital Commons: A Qualitative Study of an Automated Dispensing Cabinet in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
, 284
pp. 244-248.
10.3233/SHTI210716.
Preview |
Text
SHTI-284-SHTI210716.pdf - Published Version Download (151kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Missed medication doses can affect patient safety in hospitals. The use of automated dispensing cabinets (ADC) in clinical areas may reduce the occurrence of medications being unavailable at the time of need by alerting pharmacy to replenish stock. However, workarounds in ADC use can affect this capability. We studied nurses' use of an ADC in a paediatric intensive care unit with 54 hours of observation, semi-structure interviews (19 nurses; 4 pharmacy/management staff) and review of reported incidents. We found running out of medication a recurrent problem despite the ADC. Contributing factors affecting data entry in the ADC, and therefore replenishment alerts to pharmacy, included: the organisation of medication activities in the ward, nurses' information needs, patients' medication needs, and ADC design. Running out of medications was a 'tragedy of the commons'. Effective solutions may require going beyond user training and directives for accurate data entry, to work process redesign.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Challenges of Digital Commons: A Qualitative Study of an Automated Dispensing Cabinet in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3233/SHTI210716 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI210716 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2021 International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and IOS Press. This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). |
| Keywords: | Medication systems, automation, patient safety, systems thinking, Child, Humans, Intensive Care Units, Pediatric, Qualitative Research |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > UCL School of Pharmacy > Practice and Policy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10141308 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
