Period prevalence and reporting rate of medication errors among nurses in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

To estimate the 1-year period prevalence of medication errors and the reporting rate to nurse managers among nurses working in hospitals in Iran. Medication errors are one of the main factors affecting the quality of hospital services and reducing patient safety in health care systems. A literature search from Iranian and international scientific databases was developed to find relevant studies. Meta-regression was used to identify which characteristics may have a confounding effect on the pooled prevalence estimates. Based on the final 22 studies with 3556 samples, the overall estimated 1-year period prevalence of medication errors and its reporting rate to nurse managers among nurses were 53% (95% confidence interval, 41%-60%) and 36% (95% confidence interval, 23%-50%), respectively. The meta-regression analyses indicated that the sex (female/male) ratio was a statistically significant predictor of the prevalence of medication errors (p<.05), but not of the prevalence of reporting medication errors to nurse managers. The period prevalence of medication errors among nurses working in hospitals was high in Iran, whereas its reporting rate to nurse managers was low. Continuous training programmes are required to reduce and prevent medication errors among nursing staff and to improve the reporting rate to nurse managers in in Iran.