What is the mechanism of action of this treatment?

Common treatments for medication errors, such as those studied in the SAFE Loop trial, focus on enhancing nurse incident reporting practices and perceptions. These interventions include structured feedback systems, educational programs, and engagement strategies that promote accurate and timely reporting of medication errors. By fostering a culture of transparency and continuous improvement, healthcare providers can better identify and address the root causes of errors, ultimately reducing high-priority medication events. This is crucial for patients as it enhances medication safety, minimizes the risk of adverse drug events, and improves overall patient outcomes.

What side effects are associated with this type of intervention?

Common treatments for medication errors can include the use of antidotes, supportive medications, and symptom management strategies. Side effects of these treatments vary depending on the specific medication used. For example, antidotes like naloxone (used for opioid overdose) can cause withdrawal symptoms, agitation, and cardiovascular issues. Supportive medications such as activated charcoal (used to prevent absorption of ingested toxins) can lead to gastrointestinal side effects like nausea, vomiting, and constipation. Symptom management drugs, such as antiemetics for nausea, may cause drowsiness, dry mouth, and dizziness. It is crucial to monitor patients closely for adverse effects and adjust treatment as necessary.

What prior FDA approvals exist?

There are no specific FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of medication errors. Instead, efforts to reduce medication errors typically focus on systemic interventions such as enhanced reporting systems, staff education, and technology solutions like electronic prescribing and barcoding. The Safety Action Feedback and Engagement (SAFE) Loop trial aims to improve nurse incident reporting practices and perceptions, which aligns with these broader strategies to reduce high-priority medication events.

What other types of research exist?

Promising alternatives to the SAFE Loop for 2024 include: 1) Enhanced Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems with integrated real-time data analytics to identify and alert for potential medication errors. 2) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools for predictive analytics to foresee and prevent medication errors. 3) Mobile Health (mHealth) applications that facilitate easy and immediate incident reporting by healthcare staff. 4) Automated and electronically assisted hand hygiene monitoring systems to reduce infection-related medication errors. 5) Remote video auditing with real-time feedback to ensure adherence to safety protocols.

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SAFE Loop for Medication Errors

N/A

Waitlist Available

Led By Teryl K Nuckols, MD

Research Sponsored by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up 48 weeks

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial will test the SAFE Loop, a new system to help nurses report medication incidents better. It targets nurses in acute care units at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The system provides training, feedback, focused reporting, and integrates information to improve patient safety.

Who is the study for?

This trial is for nurses working in acute care units at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. To participate, they must work more than half-time on a study unit during the 6-month period or throughout the SAFE Loop implementation if interviewed. Nurses who only work in outpatient clinics, operating rooms, post-anesthesia care, and emergency departments cannot join.

What is being tested?

The trial tests the Safety Action Feedback and Engagement (SAFE) Loop to see if it betters nurse reporting of incidents and reduces medication errors compared to current systems. It involves all eligible nurses across 20 nursing units with different aspects being evaluated including incident reports review, surveys, medical records review, and interviews.

What are the potential side effects?

Since this intervention focuses on improving reporting practices rather than administering medications or treatments to patients directly, there are no traditional side effects associated with its use.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ 48 weeks

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~48 weeks

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 48 weeks for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Nurses' attitudes regarding communication about error

Nurses' incident reporting practices

Rate of high-priority medication events

Secondary study objectives

Nurses' attitudes regarding reporting of patient safety events

Rate of high-priority medication events that involved patient harm

Rate of reporting high-priority medication events

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: SAFE Loop ArmExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Nursing units involved in the intervention arm will participate in an iterative educational and quality improvement process that encourages improved reporting of medication safety events deemed important to their individual nursing units.

Group II: Control ArmActive Control1 Intervention

Nurses in this study will continue standard practice protocol.

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Research Highlights

Information in this section is not a recommendation. We encourage patients to speak with their healthcare team when evaluating any treatment decision.

Mechanism Of Action

Side Effect Profile

Prior Approvals

Other Research

Common treatments for medication errors, such as those studied in the SAFE Loop trial, focus on enhancing nurse incident reporting practices and perceptions. These interventions include structured feedback systems, educational programs, and engagement strategies that promote accurate and timely reporting of medication errors. By fostering a culture of transparency and continuous improvement, healthcare providers can better identify and address the root causes of errors, ultimately reducing high-priority medication events. This is crucial for patients as it enhances medication safety, minimizes the risk of adverse drug events, and improves overall patient outcomes.