Intravenous medication administration by nursing staff: adherence to aseptic measures and touching environmental surfaces.

OBJECTIVES

to analyze adherence to aseptic measures and contact with environmental surfaces by nursing professionals during intravenous medication administration.

METHODS

a cross-sectional study conducted in an adult Intensive Care Unit of a university hospital between February and March 2023. Twenty-seven nursing professionals were observed in a real-world care setting, and the magnitude of the associations was analyzed using the Prevalence Ratio, with a 95% Confidence Interval.

RESULTS

135 medication administration procedures were observed, and 1,083 touches on surfaces were detected (mean of eight touches per procedure). The most frequently touched surfaces were infusion pumps (29.1%), infusion sets (28.1%), and clothing (9.7%). Of the 11 indicators of compliance with aseptic measures, six were classified as non-compliant.

CONCLUSIONS

low adherence to aseptic measures and a significant frequency of touching clinical surfaces before administering medications were observed, which may represent a risk to patient safety.