Abstract:
The current study assessed preparedness among nurses about reporting ad-
verse drug reactions in public and private hospitals. Nurses in hospitals are
among health providers very close to patients and are involved in the process
of administering medications especially to inpatients. A cross sectional study
was conducted among nurses in public and private hospitals in Dar es Salaam
city in Tanzania to compare their preparedness on reporting adverse drug re-
actions (ADRs). A total of 384 nurses were involved in this study, of which
50% were drawn from public hospitals and 50% from private hospitals. Ma-
jority of respondents (75.25%) in public and 84.73% in private hospitals said
they have not received any training about reporting ADRs. Of the few trained
nurses, 85.43% and 96.55%, in public and private hospitals, respectively, said
they have been trained in a seminar only once, after they started working as
nurses. Respondents in public (19.17%) and private (32.8%) hospitals re-
ported to stock ADRS forms (Yellow cards). Less than 50% of respondents
agreed to have access to reference materials such as a text books named “Good
Dispensing Practice” and a “List of Registered Medicines”. Further results
showed more than two third of all respondents in private (74.25%) and public
(73.5%) hospitals reported that lack of training affects the process of reporting
ADRs in terms of ability and tendency. In this study we found training, avail-
ability of Yellow cards and presence of a focal person are among important
contributing factors to preparedness of reporting ADRs among nurses in pub-
lic and private hospitals
