During medication preparation, a No Interruption Zone could decrease interruptions and enhance safety.
In the technologically advanced environment of the ICU, nurses play a central role in the maintenance of patient safety. Although safety encompasses many processes and personnel, nurses have the primary role in safe administration of medications, which is recognized as a nurse-sensitive outcome.1 Critical care nurses work with a multitude of potent and lifesaving medications that paradoxically can pose a considerable risk for injury and harm when some errors that are common in critical care units occur.2,–4 Besides the pharmacokinetics being responsible for injury and harm, other sources of harm resulting from medication errors include the level of nurse experience, shift worked or time of day, lack of computerized orders, and distractions and interruptions.2,5 In ICUs, distractions and interruptions are common, and evidence-based practices are needed to minimize medication...