Medication errors among nurses in teaching hospitals in the west of Iran: what we need to know about prevalence, types, and barriers to reporting.

Afshin Fathi,Satar Rezaei,Khalil Moradi,Mohammad Hajizadeh,Shima Kazemzadeh,Maryam Dezhkameh,Hamed Zandian

doi:10.4178/epih.e2017022

Abstract

OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to examine the prevalence and types of medication errors (MEs), as well as barriers to reporting MEs, among nurses working in 7 teaching hospitals affiliated with Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2016.METHODSA convenience sampling method was used to select the study participants (n=500 nurses). A self-constructed questionnaire was employed to collect information on participants’ socio-demographic characteristics (10 items), their perceptions about the main causes of MEs (31 items), and barriers to reporting MEs to nurse managers (11 items). Data were collected from September 1 to November 30, 2016. Negative binomial regression was used to identify the main predictors of the frequency of MEs among nurses.RESULTSThe prevalence of MEs was 17.0% (95% confidence interval, 13.7 to 20.3%). The most common types of MEs were administering medications at the wrong time (24.0%), dosage errors (16.8%), and administering medications to the wrong patient (13.8%). A heavy workload and the type of shift work were considered to be the main causes of MEs by nursing staff. Our findings showed that 45.0% of nurses did not report MEs. A heavy workload due to a high number of patients was the most important reason for not reporting MEs (mean score, 3.57±1.03) among nurses. Being male, having a second unrelated job, and fixed shift work significantly increased MEs among nurses (p=0.001).CONCLUSIONSOur study documented a high prevalence of MEs among nurses in the west of Iran. A heavy workload was considered to be the most important barrier to reporting MEs among nurses. Thus, appropriate strategies (e.g., reducing the nursing staff workload) should be developed to address MEs and improve patient safety in hospital settings in Iran.

Highlights

Medical errors are an inevitable part of the healthcare system and pose a substantial threat to patient safety [1,2]
In this study, we aimed to examine the prevalence and types of Medication errors (MEs), as well as barriers to reporting MEs, among nurses working in teaching hospitals affiliated with Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), in the west of Iran
We investigated various issues related to MEs among nurses working in all teaching hospitals affiliated with KUMS in 2016

Summary

Introduction

Medical errors are an inevitable part of the healthcare system and pose a substantial threat to patient safety [1,2]. Medication errors (MEs) are one of the most common types of medical errors in healthcare systems (10 to 18% of total medical errors) and can cause serious harm to patients, even leading to death [3,4]. MEs are defined as any preventable events that may lead to the improper use of medications or may harm patients while medications are in the control of healthcare workers, patients, or consumers [5,6]. These errors can happen at any step of the medication process Other common medication administration errors include failing to order a drug, lack of a drug form, and failing to administer the drug [14]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion