Background: Intravenous (IV) medication administration is a common practice in public sector hospitals, and it is mostly employed to treat acute and chronic conditions quickly and efficiently. Despite the advantages, IV therapy has some risks of drug reactions, infections, and mistakes of medications. Knowledge of patients and patient safety is a vital aspect of patient-centered care and is crucial in the prevention of complications that can be avoided. Aim: To assess patient awareness and safety understanding regarding IV medication in public sector hospitals of Swat. Methodology: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 384 adult patients undergoing IV medication in the selected hospitals in the public of Swat. Simple random sampling was utilized. An established structured questionnaire was used to gather data, with a Content Validity Index of 0.89 and Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.87. The statistical analysis of descriptive and inferential statistics was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27, and a p-value below 0.05 was taken as statistical significance. Results: Low awareness was observed in 44.3% of participants, while 49.2% demonstrated low safety understanding. A highly significant association was found between awareness and safety understanding (χ²= 614.338, p< 0.001). Educational level and hospital setting were significantly associated with awareness levels. Conclusion: There are significant statements separating patient awareness and safety knowledge of IV medication. Scheduled patient education plans are required to promote medication safety in the hospitals of the public sector.
Adnan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.