# Exploration of Factors Associated with Reported Medication Administration Errors in North Carolina Public School Districts

## TL;DR

This study examines factors linked to medication errors in North Carolina schools, finding that larger districts and nurse employment status influence error rates.

## Contribution

The study identifies trends in medication administration errors and corrective actions in school districts over time.

## Key findings

- Medication errors and corrective action plans increased over time in North Carolina school districts.
- Larger school districts reported more medication errors.
- School districts directly employing nurses had fewer corrective action plans.

## Abstract

School nurses are pivotal to the safety of school-aged children, particularly those who receive medications in the school setting. The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with medication administration errors in North Carolina school districts between 2012/2013 and 2017/2018. A longitudinal study using repeated measures analysis of school health services data collected in the North Carolina Annual School Health Services and Programs Survey was conducted. Over time, the number of medication errors (p = .001) and number of medication corrective action plans (p < .0001) trended upwards. There was also an increase in medication errors when the number of schools in a district was higher (p < .0001). Conversely, there was a decrease in corrective action plans when school nurses were directly employed by the school district (p = .0471). We implore school disticts to consider the important role of school nurses to keep kids safe, healthy, and ready to learn.