Ratings of effectiveness and likelihood of taking action if instructed to by oncology nurses
| Error-prevention strategy | Mean effectiveness rating* | Mean likelihood of taking action if instructed to by oncology nurses† |
| Pay attention to the appearance of tablets or infusions—for example, their colour and shape, and notify staff if they are unusual | 1.23 | 4.73 |
| Pay attention to the number of drugs | 1.20 | 4.73 |
| Pay attention to the duration of infusions | 1.97 | 4.50 |
| Pay attention to the correct functioning of equipment—for example if the intravenous is dripping slower or faster as usual or if the line is disconnected | 1.50 | 4.40 |
| Ask the nurse when administering drugs to check whether they are really meant to be for you—for example to check the labels on intravenous bags with your name | 1.27 | 4.57 |
| Ask staff to interrupt an intervention and check back if you have any doubts that everything is fine | 1.17 | 4.73 |
| Ask the nurse or doctor to read out loud the drugs label before administering the drug | 1.63 | 4.40 |
| Ask nurses and doctors whether they had washed their hands before touching you | 1.47 | 4.10 |
| Inform nurses or doctors whenever you experience any symptoms—for example pain at the injection site | 1.13 | 4.90 |
| Pay attention that treatment days follow the regular interval or schedule—for example, weekly on the same day of the week | 1.57 | 4.60 |
In the pretest, a five-point scale was used for both ratings, but patients had major difficulties in interpreting the effectiveness but not the likelihood scale. Thus, this scale was simplified to a three-point scale for the main study.
↵* 1, very effective; 2, somewhat effective; 3, not effective.
↵† Measured on a five-point Likert scale with 1, very unlikely to 5, very likely.