Improving the medicine administration process by reducing interruptions.

one of the most stressful tasks nursing staffs undertake is administering patient medications. no matter the type of system used—whether highly automated, with sophisticated computer software and bar-code scanners; largely paper based; or some hybrid of the two—administrating medications is a complicated process. nursing staff are under constant pressure to fulfill their medicine administration duties while attending to their other responsibilities. a relatively new variable is the increased involvement of patients and their family members in the patient’s care management. In this spirit of heightened awareness, they ask numerous questions and seek clarifications about the medications, which, while a positive development in the overall care process, further affects the time needed to administer medications. considering these and many other complicating factors, the medicine administration process lends itself well to a process improvement project.