A Novel Use of Bar Code Medication Administration Data to Assess Nurse Staffing and Workload

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study is to introduce an innovative use of bar code medication administration (BCMA) data, medication pass analysis, that allows for the examination of nurse staffing and workload using data generated during regular nursing workflow.

Methods Using 1 year (October 1, 2014–September 30, 2015) of BCMA data for 11 acute care units in one Veterans Affairs Medical Center, we determined the peak time for scheduled medications and included medications scheduled for and administered within 2 hours of that time in analyses. We established for each staff member their daily peak-time medication pass characteristics (number of patients, number of peak-time scheduled medications, duration, start time), generated unit-level descriptive statistics, examined staffing trends, and estimated linear mixed-effects models of duration and start time.

Results As the most frequent (39.7%) scheduled medication time, 9:00 was the peak-time medication pass; 98.3% of patients (87.3% of patient-days) had a 9:00 medication. Use of nursing roles and number of patients per staff varied across units and over time. Number of patients, number of medications, and unit-level factors explained significant variability in registered nurse (RN) medication pass duration (conditional R²  = 0.237; marginal R²  = 0.199; intraclass correlation = 0.05). On average, an RN and a licensed practical nurse (LPN) with four patients, each with six medications, would be expected to take 70 and 74 minutes, respectively, to complete the medication pass. On a unit with median 10 patients per LPN, the median duration (127 minutes) represents untimely medication administration on more than half of staff days. With each additional patient assigned to a nurse, average start time was earlier by 4.2 minutes for RNs and 1.4 minutes for LPNs.

Conclusion Medication pass analysis of BCMA data can provide health systems a means for assessing variations in staffing, workload, and nursing practice using data generated during routine patient care activities.

Keywords

nursing care - bar code medication administration - assessment - registered nurse - licensed practical nurse - workload

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

This research was approved by the Baylor College of Medicine Institutional Review Board.

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 14. September 2022

Angenommen: 02. Dezember 2022

Accepted Manuscript online:
06. Dezember 2022

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
01. Februar 2023

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