279 - Priorities in Medication Safety Education for Pediatric Residents: A Multi-Stakeholder Needs Assessment

Publication Number: 279.6130

Julianna Lau, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Lisa Rickey, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Haley Davis, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Jayme Wilder, Boston Children's Hospital, Needham, MA, United States; Mollie G. Wasserman, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Katherine ODonnell, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Background: Medication errors are among the most common errors and sources of adverse events in hospitalized patients. Children are at higher risk for errors given additional complexity from weight-based dosing, multiple available formulations, and developmental pharmacokinetics. There is a paucity of available guidance for pediatric residency programs seeking to identify and effectively teach trainees about high priority topics in medication safety.

Objective: To identify and compare priorities in medication safety education for pediatric residents through the lens of multiple stakeholders.

Design/Methods: A needs assessment was conducted by surveying residents at a large residency program, educational leaders in this residency program, and institutional key stakeholders including quality and safety leaders, nurses, and pharmacists. Surveys were developed through review of prior literature and with input from content experts in medication and patient safety and were reviewed by a qualitative researcher with expertise in survey design. Unique surveys were designed for each of the three groups outlined above. At least two cognitive interviews were completed for each survey. Surveys were distributed via Qualtrics and completed anonymously. Only fully completed surveys were included for analysis.

Results: Response rates were 45% for residents, 79% for educational leaders, and 84% for key stakeholders. Completion rates were 26% for residents, 71% for educational leaders, and 58% for key stakeholders (Fig.1). Most rotation leaders (93%) reported not having an established medication safety curriculum. Residents and educational leaders identified pediatric high risk medications to be the most important topic for education and common medication errors as the 2nd most important topic (Fig.2). Interestingly, key stakeholders felt that medication reconciliation is most important, while residents felt this was the least important topic. Residents identified interactive, case-based learning formats such as formalized event reviews, rotation based teaching, and individualized event reviews to be the most effective for medication safety teaching (Fig.3).

Conclusion(s): This multi-perspective needs assessment is the first step to identify key topics to include in a medication safety curriculum and learner preferences for best methods of delivery. Interestingly, there was divergence between residents and stakeholders in terms of top priority topics, speaking to the importance of a multidisciplinary approach. These results will be useful to guide the design and implementation of a new medication safety curriculum for pediatric residents.

Figure 1: Survey completion and respondent demographics


Figure 2: Topics to prioritize in a medication safety curriculum for residents from the perspective of residents, educational leaders, and key stakeholders


Figure 3: Resident responses on most effective methods for delivery of a medication safety curriculum


Figure 1: Survey completion and respondent demographics


Figure 2: Topics to prioritize in a medication safety curriculum for residents from the perspective of residents, educational leaders, and key stakeholders


Figure 3: Resident responses on most effective methods for delivery of a medication safety curriculum