Practicing the algorithms of basic life support (BLS) is essential in order to take adequate measures to save lives, and future nursing staff should be advanced when it comes to performing lifesaving activities. The purpose of the study was to analyse the theoretical and practical knowledge of nursing students (within the undergraduate course) with regards to the basic life support (BLS). The study has a prospective, comparative and descriptive nature. Three countries that educate nursing students within the undergraduate course participated in the project. Data was collected with the use of a questionnaire based on the guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC 2015). The study was carried out among a total of 748 respondents from three countries: Poland (n = 189, 25.3%), Lithuania (n = 500, 66.8%) and Spain (n = 59; 7.9%). The average age of respondents was 23.41 (SD ± 5.90). The average score obtained by the respondents who answered the questions was 11.13 with a standard deviation of SD ± 2.29. The conducted study revealed that a substantial number of the respondents who participated in the study obtained an average result concerning theoretical and practical knowledge of BLS. It was also confirmed that the additional education in the form of first aid training courses has a major impact on improving the levels of knowledge among the students in each of the analysed country.

Background and Objectives: A medication error can occur at any stage of medication administration at the ward, from the moment the medication is prescribed through the preparation to the administration to the patient. The statistics indicate that the scale of the problem, which has a significant impact on the safety and health of patients, is still poorly known. The purpose of the systematic review was to synthesise the published research about the number of medication errors in operating room theatres and intensive care units. Materials and Methods: The literature review was conducted in the third quarter of 2023. The overview included papers found in Science Direct, EBSCO, PubMed, Ovid, Scopus, and original research papers published in English meeting the PICOS criteria. Original articles published between 2017 and 2023 that meet the inclusion criteria were included for further analysis. Results: The review included 13 articles and original studies, which met the PICOS-based criteria. The analyses confirmed that the operating theatre’s medication error rate was 7.3% to 12%. In the case of intensive care units, the medication error rate was from 1.32 to 31.7%. Conclusions: Medication errors in the operating room and intensive care are high. However, the values presented herein do not differ from the general Medication Error Index for medical centres, as calculated by the World Health Organization.

Background: Due to the progress in neonatology, in particular, in the past three decades, the mortality rate among patients of intensive care units has decreased. However, this is connected not only with newborns needing to stay longer in the unit, but also with the exposure of newborns to many painful procedures and stresses. Lack of or insufficient pain prevention has a negative impact on the sensory or locomotor development of newborns. Despite the presence of guidelines based on scientific evidence, the use of pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain-management methods in newborns is still insufficient. Aim: The aim of the study was to: identify the knowledge nurses/midwives have of recommended non-pharmacological and/or pharmacological methods, in particular, in relation to medical intervention procedures; assess the interventions for pain relief applied by midwives/nurses most often in their clinical practice; examine the role of age, general work experience, education level and years of work of medical professionals on a neonatal ward, as well as the referral level of a unit, versus the application of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. Methods: A descriptive and quantitative study conducted in 2019 among Polish nurses/midwives working at neonatal intensive care units. Results: The analysis of the material reflected the deficit of knowledge and the insufficient daily use of recommended pain-relief measures among the respondents. Conclusions: The interpretation of data indicates that despite the clear and easily available recommendations of scientific societies concerning the mode of conduct in particular medical procedures, medical personnel do not apply those recommendations in their everyday practice. It is necessary to plan and implement education strategies for nurses/midwives on standard pain-management interventions during painful medical procedures.

Introduction. Adverse events (AE) in the process of pharmacotherapy can have direct consequences on the health and life of a patient. Factors leading to AE are categorized in human and systematic ones. Among the latter ones, the most important are significant shortages of nursing staff as well as stress, fatigue and the Occupational Burnout Syndrome. Reporting of AE is a crucial pillar of prevention of adverse events in drug administration in nursing. Aim. The aim of the study was to identify and analyse the factors leading to adverse events in the pharmocotherapy process and to present methods of prevention AE. Material and Methods. The research was lead among 100 hospital nurses from Pomeranian region. A research and research questionnaire was based on the study “Attitudes and beliefs of health services about the causes and reporting of treatment errors in the British intensive care unit”. The project was conducted between January to April 2020. Results. Detailed analysis showed that the most important factors influencing the occurrence of adverse events in the drug administration are: nurses shortage (14%), stress and burnout syndrome (11%), incorrect labelling (13%). 85% of medical personnel are convinced that it is essential to monitor the situation of adverse events in drug administration. The Kruskal–Wallis test did not confirm the existence of a relationship between the: occurrence of adverse events in the area of pharmacotherapy and age (K – W = 0; p = 1), level of education (K – W = 3.6328; p = 0.3039) and work experience of the surveyed respondents (K – W = 0.3651484; p = 0.5457). Similarly, no significant relationships were found between the occurrence of adverse events and the department profile (K – W = 0.330; p = 0.5652). Conclusions. The level of education, professional experience and age are not significantly related to making mistakes in the area of drug administration; the factors that significantly affect the occurrence of AD in the area of drug administration are: reduced nursing staff on duty, performing one’s duties under stress and time pressure, insufficient variety of labels on medicinal products; the best method of prevention in the area of drug management and administration is the presence of a reporting and monitoring system; the was the majority of nurses reported the occurrence of a drug-related adverse event to the rest of the therapeutic team. (JNNN 2022;11(2):65–73).

Background and Objectives: Medication errors are a critical issue in healthcare systems worldwide, contributing to significant patient harm, with studies indicating that medication-related incidents are among the most common causes of adverse events in medical practice. There are between 80 and 200 steps in providing a single patient with a single dose of drugs, with five stages, including prescription, preparation, dispensation, administration and monitoring. This study aims to describe and validate the MAEs (Medication Administration Error Scale) tool, which investigates the most common causes of medication errors in medication administration. Materials and Methods: Independent translators translated the original version of the scale using language verification. The agreed-upon version of the translation was then assessed by a team of nurses, specialists in anaesthetic and intensive care nursing, in terms of understanding the translated content. After introducing changes resulting from linguistic and organisational differences, a survey questionnaire was prepared and used in the pilot study. Eighty-six respondents participated in the pilot study via the Office 365 platform and the Forms programme. The research was led by nurses who work in highly specialised units. The reliability of the translated version of the questionnaire was examined by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results: The tool’s internal consistency across ranges was within acceptable limits. For part A (questions 1–29), it was 0.93; for part B (questions 30–45), it was 0.94. In part C, regarding the percentages of the type of error occurring in a given medical facility, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.97. When the factor loadings of the items were evaluated, they were determined to be in the range of 0.602–0.783. In this context, the factor loading levels of the items in the 5-factor model were high and sufficient. Conclusions: The statistical analyses suggest that the Polish version of the Medication Administration Error Survey demonstrates satisfactory reliability and is a promising tool for assessing the cause of medication administration errors.

Wstęp. Dobra jakość snu i dobre samopoczucie są ważnymi kwestiami dla zdrowia i wydajności pracowników, szczególnie zaś w przypadku osób wykonujących bardzo wymagające zawody. Personel pielęgniarski musi stawić czoła poważnym wyzwaniom psychicznym i fizycznym. Praca zmianowa może prowadzić do wielu problemów zdrowotnych, w tym: lęku, bezsenności, otyłości czy wysokiego ciśnienia krwi. Cel. W pracy zbadano występowanie zaburzeń snu wśród personelu pielęgniarskiego zatrudnionego na salach operacyjnych i oddziałach intensywnej terapii. Materiał i metody. Badanie miało charakter prospektywny, porównawczy, opisowy. Projekt był realizowany od 1 stycznia do 31 kwietnia 2019 roku. Badaniem objęto 180 pracowników medycznych zatrudnionych na Oddziałach Anestezjologii i Intensywnej Terapii w pięciu różnych szpitalach. Dane zebrano na podstawie wystandaryzowanego narzędzia Ateńskiej Skali Bezsenności (AIS) oraz autorskiego kwestionariusza wywiadu. Wyniki. Badanie wykazało, że 65,6% (N = 118) respondentów miało problemy ze snem, objawiające się częstymi wybudzeniami w nocy. Dla ponad 45% pielęgniarek (45,6%; N = 82) czas ich snu był niewystarczający, a ponad 60% (N = 109) badanych odczuwało senność. Pogłębione analizy dostarczały statystycznie istotnej zależności pomiędzy jakością snu a zażywaniem środków nasennych (Z = –1,95; p = 0,050). Wnioski. Personel pielęgniarski pracujący na oddziałach intensywnej terapii i sali operacyjnej cierpi na zaburzenia snu związane z bezsennością; objawy bezsenności w tej grupie zawodowej obejmują budzenie się w nocy i senność w ciągu dnia; pielęgniarki płci męskiej mają znacznie lepszą jakość snu niż pielęgniarki płci żeńskiej. (PNN 2022;11(3):105–113)