Running head: REVIEW OF REFERENCES 1

Review of References: Medication errors in long term care

Cassaundra Braden
Ferris State University
REVIEW OF REFERENCES 2
Abstract
This paper evaluates three references used in a previous assignment by the same author. The
articles are reviewed for credibility and influence to the nursing profession. It is determined by
the author that only one of the sources proved to be credible but all three related to the goal of
the assignment, which is to advocate for electronic medication administration in long term care.

REVIEW OF REFERENCES 3
Review of References: Medication errors in long term care
This is a review of references for Medication errors in long term care, a paper written by this
author for nursing 324 at Ferris State University. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate
references used to guide practice decisions. Nursing research develops knowledge for nursing
practice and allows for communication of nursing knowledge.
Review
In order for an article to be chosen for nursing research it must be scholarly. For an article to be
considered scholarly it must be peer-reviewed and from a credible source. Peer review is the
evaluation of work by one or more people of similar education to the author of the article. The
content of the article will either be qualitative or quantitative. A qualitative study uses data that is
subjective, often open ended question interviews, observations, and reflections. A quantitative
study is based on numbers and statistics. This type of study aims to collect data to formulate an
objective predicted outcome. The articles to be reviewed in this paper focus on medication
administration errors and the benefits of electronic medication administration records.

Article One: Types, Prevalence, and Potential Clinical Significance of Medication
Administration Errors in Assisted Living. By: H. Young
This article was found in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The journal is a
credible source with an impact factor of 3.978 and was presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Gerontological Society of America. It was a Cross-sectional observational study conducted in 12
REVIEW OF REFERENCES 4
assisted living settings in three states. There were eight authors, in total, including PhD level
nursing. This is a quantitative study.
The study provided nursing research that aimed to educate anyone interested in the
prevalence of medication error in assisted living facilities. This may interest upper level
management in long term care facilities or any medical professional looking to decrease the
occurrence of errors. This was a unique study that had not been done before. Although the
article utilized other credible sources, the study was conducted with a goal of supporting the
claim that medication management is a prominent clinical concern in nursing home settings.

Article 2: eMAR and mobile computing: Why nursing homes need to get wired now. By: M.
Russo.

This article was published in Nursing Homes magazine. Michael Russo, the author, is a
chief technology officer for a company that develops of medication management and healthcare
technology solutions for the long-term and acute care markets. The article was not a study that
was conducted but he did reference a study done by The American Journal of Nursing, which
strongly supported his claim with statistics on medication errors.

The article provides a strong case advocating for the implementation of eMAR in the
long term care setting. This information qualitative and is prevalent to nursing practice but is not
new objective information. The article is persuasive and not an evidence based study. The
information provided is the authors opinions based off of a study conducted by another nursing
journal.
REVIEW OF REFERENCES 5

Article 3: Transitioning to an eMAR system. By: P. Sheehan.

This article comes from Long Term Living, a magazine directed towards the business side
of the nursing profession involved in LTC. There is no evidence that the article has been peer
reviewed. The author and editor in chief of Long Term Living, Sheehan, discusses the views of
Carolyn Dibert, a registered nurse and director of clinical services for two LTC communities.

Dibert was speaking about her companys transition to electronic medication
administration records. She informed her audience that transitioning to eMAR showed a 90
percent reduction in annual medication errors. This is relevant to all long term care
communities, especially those who have yet to make the switch from paper medication
administration records.

Reflection
Of the reference articles used in Medication errors in long term care, there were two
printed in magazines and one in a nursing journal. The first article from the Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society was credible and the study held a strong significance to the nursing
profession. The second reference article was not a study but provided borrowed information
from one. Both the second and third articles were not written by nurses but did reference
information from other sources written by nurses. Going back to this assignment in Nursing 324,
it would have been beneficial to do more to ensure that all the references used were of credible
sources. I believe only the first article should be used to guide nursing practice, as it is a credible
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source providing a study with concrete facts. The third reference was the least valuable to the
assignment but still provided nursing related information. It is important when doing nursing
research to evaluate your sources and their credibility before implementing any changes that may
affect patient care.

REVIEW OF REFERENCES 7
References

Nieswiadomy, R. M. (2012). Foundations of nursing research(6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Russo, M. (2008). eMAR and mobile computing: Why nursing homes need to get wired now;
medication errors are reaching dangerous levels in LTC facilities and modern technology
can stop this. Nursing Homes, 57(1), 32 . Retrieved from http://0-
bi.galegroup.com.libcat.ferris.edu/global/article/GALE|A175076353/6bcb2cd5f113003aa
7487b893b8c0c37?u=lom_ferrissu
Sheehan, P. (2012). Transitioning to an eMAR system. . Long-Term Living, 69(9), 10. Retrieved
from:http://0bi.galegroup.com.libcat.ferris.edu/global/article/GALE|A307672627/80b373
5bf565e475a61d0bd2f77c1f01?u=lom_ferrissu
Young, H. M., Gray, S. L., McCormick, W. C., Sikma, S. K., Reinhard, S., Johnson Trippett, L.,
Christlieb, C. and Allen, T. (2008), Types, Prevalence, and Potential Clinical
Significance of Medication Administration Errors in Assisted Living. Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society, 56: 11991205. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.01754.x