Baseline characteristics for each study group
| Characteristics | Control wards | Intervention wards |
|---|---|---|
| No of wards | 4 | 4 |
| No of administrations | 1204 | 1225 |
| No of nurses | 70 | 77 |
| Medication administrations by route, no of administrations (%) | ||
| Oral | 930 (77.2) | 961 (78.5) |
| Intravenous/injection | 171 (14.2) | 181 (14.8) |
| Other | 103 (8.6) | 83 (6.7) |
| Non-medication-related interruptions, no. of administrations (%) | ||
| None | 817 (67.9) | 832 (67.9) |
| 1 | 243 (20.2) | 260 (21.2) |
| 2 | 90 (7.5) | 81 (6.6) |
| 3 | 32 (2.7) | 33 (2.7) |
| 4–7 | 22 (1.8) | 19 (1.6) |
| Total number of non-medication-related interruptions | 616 | 608 |
| Non-medication interruptions per 100 administrations (SD) | 51 (92) | 50 (90) |
| Non-medication interruptions per cluster per 100 administrations (SD of cluster rates) | 51 (10) | 50 (15) |
| All interruptions (medication and non-medication related), no of administrations (%) | ||
| None | 764 (63.5) | 807 (65.9) |
| 1 | 274 (22.8) | 261 (21.3) |
| 2 | 100 (8.3) | 94 (7.7) |
| 3 | 42 (3.5) | 30 (2.5) |
| 4–7 | 24 (2.0) | 11 (2.7) |
| Total no of all interruptions | 707 | 686 |
| All interruptions per 100 administrations (SD) | 59 (97) | 56 (99) |
| All interruptions per cluster per 100 administrations (SD of cluster rates) | 59 (9) | 55 (22) |
| Multitasking events no of administrations (%) | ||
| None | 151 (12.5) | 144 (11.8) |
| 1 | 208 (17.3) | 211 (17.2) |
| 2 | 132 (11.0) | 116 (9.5) |
| 3 | 147 (12.2) | 131 (10.7) |
| 4 | 92 (7.6) | 98 (8.0) |
| 5 | 108 (9.0) | 103 (8.4) |
| 6–32 | 366 (30.4) | 422 (34.5) |
| Total no of multitasking events | 5566 | 5960 |
| Multitasking events per 100 administrations (SD) | 462 (458) | 487 (481) |
| Multitasking events per cluster per 100 administrations (SD of cluster rates) | 462 (60) | 486 (87) |