Date
6-26-2025
Department
School of Nursing
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chair
Folashade Odedina
Keywords
unlicensed assistive personnel, unlicensed staff, medication errors, training, education
Disciplines
Nursing
Recommended Citation
Carroll, Tamara J., "Decreasing Medication Errors among Unlicensed Assistive Personnel" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7144.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7144
Abstract
Unlicensed assistive personnel, although their role is controversial, are present in many different settings and have many varying roles and job responsibilities. Yet, removing this type of healthcare worker from the job pool may lead to increased labor costs, which could be stifling to some organizations and facilities. Digging deeper, data suggests errors are due to lack of a defined scope of practice, a lack of understanding of job roles and responsibilities and decreased confidence when working in the healthcare setting. The purpose of this project utilizes a setting specific educational intervention and skills check off to increase job self-efficacy and to reduce medication errors by 25%. Results showed a statistically significant difference in job self-efficacy and a statistically significant reduction in medication errors over a 6-week period after implementation. These results solidify the need for site specific educational training for unlicensed assistive personnel to decrease medication errors and improve patient safety in all settings where these personnel may be employed.
