KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF HIGH-ALERT MEDICATIONS AMONG PHARMACY STUDENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66021/pakmcr1088Keywords:
High alert medication, Student, Pharmacy, awarenessAbstract
Background
High-alert medications (HAMs) are those medications that have a high likelihood of causing serious harm to patients when used incorrectly. Future health workers among Pharmacy students should acquire sufficient information and awareness about the safety of HAM to reduce the risk of medication errors and enhance patient safety.
Objective
To assess the knowledge of high alert medications among the students of pharmacy and their awareness of the same, and to study their perception of the safety training and preventive measures of high alert medications among the students of pharmacy.
Methodology
The method of the study was a descriptive cross-sectional study, and a structured self-administered questionnaire was used for the collection of data from the students of Pharmacy. The tool measured HAMs awareness, identification of high-alert medications, knowledge of safety precautions, experience of medication errors during internships, and preferred training methods. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) were used to analyze the data.
Results
Most students (85%) knew about high alert medications, and 67% had carried out an internship. The most common HAMs identified were insulin (34%) and opioids (23%). 76% correctly identified that if the HAMs are used incorrectly, they can cause serious harm, but only 11% identified ISMP as the organization that is responsible for them, and 44% identified WHO. Most (67%) had been trained before in HAM safety, and 77% had had a medication error during internship. The most common safety measures recognized were double-checking doses (44%) and proper labeling (34%). Most students strongly supported mandatory HAM training (82%), and lectures (45%) were the preferred learning method.
Conclusions
The findings were that the pharmacy students had average knowledge about high alert drugs, and there was a lack of knowledge about the regulatory bodies and advanced safety measures. Enhancing structured education, hands-on training, and simulation-based learning is crucial to ensure that future pharmacists have the necessary competency in medication safety.
