ArticleHealth services insights2026
Medication Safety Risks and Their Management in Finnish Care Units: A Cross-Sectional Survey.
Article in Health services insights, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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6 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: Deficiencies in medication safety are a major concern for patient safety. In Finland, health and social care units are mandated to develop unit-based protocols for safe medication management and use (MMU) to address medication safety risks. Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine how unit-based safe MMU protocols are developed in Finnish health and social care settings and how comprehensive the content of these protocols is. Design: A cross-sectional, descriptive study. Methods: An online survey was conducted among Finnish registered nurses and pharmacists working in health and social care settings. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, and statistical tests (t-tests, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H) were applied to examine group differences. Sum variables were created to assess protocol content comprehensiveness. The study was conducted and reported in accordance with the STROBE guidelines for cross-sectional studies. Results: The survey included 905 participants (90.2% nurses and 9.8% pharmacists). Most respondents (91.5%) reported having a unit-based MMU protocol. Only 11.6% indicated that the protocol was developed through interprofessional collaboration, which was more common in healthcare than in social care. Overall, respondents considered the protocols comprehensive, with no major differences between work environments. The least detailed areas were medication safety management (mean 3.09), medication reconciliation and patient involvement (mean 3.13), and risk management in the MMU process (mean 3.30). Conclusions: Unit-based safe MMU protocols are key tools in describing the MMU process and medication safety practices in Finnish health and social care. However, greater emphasis is needed on interprofessional development, particularly in social care settings, with increased involvement of physicians and pharmacists. Preventive, system-based medication safety risk management needs to be strengthened in the protocols and the competencies of healthcare professionals in the present area.
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