NURSING STRATEGIES TO MINIMIZE MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION ERRORS IN HOSPITALIZED CHILDREN: INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

This study aimed to identify, in the scientific literature, the strategies used by nursing professionals to minimize medication administration errors in hospitalized children. This is an integrative review, with searches in the PubMed/MEDLINE, LILACS, BDENF and SciELO databases, of quantitative or mixed-methods primary studies published between 2020 and 2026 in Portuguese, English or Spanish. Of the 167 records screened, 11 studies made up the sample, conducted in Australia, Brazil, India, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, five of them quality improvement projects. The strategies were grouped into three categories: educational and intervention programs, with a 56.9% reduction in errors after interventions developed by the nurses themselves and improved staff knowledge and behavior after training; organizational, with double-checking and quality improvement cycles, which reduced errors in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units; and technological, with an electronic medication management system and smart infusion pumps. Mandatory double-checking was not associated with fewer errors, and independent double-checking did not differ from single-checking regarding reported events. Reducing medication errors in hospitalized children depends on combining nursing staff training, organization of work processes and supporting technologies.