UWindsor nursing instructors Michelle Freeman, Susan Dennison, and Natalie Giannotti had their project receive the People’s Choice Award at the Quality and Safety in Nursing Education International Forum, May 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Their quality improvement project was titled “Student Medication Errors, Near Misses and Discovered Errors: What did we learn about the rights of medication administration?”

Dr. Giannotti noted the awards competition was stiff.

“There were over 100 excellent posters,” she said. “There was a great deal of interest in our framework for medication incident reporting and our findings.”

Dennison, a learning specialist in clinical practice, said the Faculty of Nursing has spent 10 years redesigning medication policy and practices.

“Our program has been recognized for implementing innovative strategies that support medication safety for nursing students,” she said.

“Interdisciplinary partnerships, that include pharmacists and nurses from our local hospitals, have been key in the success of our work. Our incident reporting system, with an emphasis on near-miss reporting, is our most recent innovation.”

The group also delivered an oral presentation at the conference, and pledged to continue its work in this important area, said Dr. Freeman.

“Our work received a great deal of attention because of its implications for nursing practice and for nursing education,” she said. “Our findings challenge some of the long-held beliefs on the nursing ‘rights’ of medication administration.”

The forum focused on using informatics and simulation to improve quality and safety education and practice.