Assessment of Nurses’ Opinions on The Reporting Behavior of Medication Errors in Hospitals Al-Diwaniah Governorate

Abstract

Background: Medication errors pose a substantial public health concern, leading to higher rates of death and illness, and adversely affecting the healthcare system through increased expenses. Medication errors can undermine the confidence of healthcare providers in their abilities and the healthcare system as a whole. International endeavors have been undertaken to deal with these concerns. Objective: This study investigates nurses' perspectives on reporting medication errors, including their attitudes toward reporting and the barriers they encounter in reporting. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study that included a cohort of 355 nurses employed in three public hospitals as well as a private hospital within Aldiwaniah City. The nurses were solicited during their work shifts and requested to fill out a self-administered questionnaire comprising five sections, which was formulated based on preexisting literature. Of the 355 nurses who were approached, 352 of them completed the questionnaire. The process of data analysis entailed the utilization of descriptive statistics. Results: The study found that 64% of nurses don't report medication errors due to early intervention. 56.8% document incidents and verbally report errors, a high percentage compared to previous research. 44.6% verbally report personal errors, a concern for nurses. Barriers include a lack of understanding of medication errors' definition and the correct reporting time using incident reports. Many nurses feel shame, discomfort, and worry about patient safety. Conclusion and Recommendations: Most nurses do not report medication errors due to barriers such as inadequate understanding of the error definition, uncertainty about reporting timing, and fear of disciplinary consequences. The study found significant associations between uncertainty regarding medication errors, gender, training courses, ward knowledge, lack of knowledge about reporting timings, hospital type, working hours, and days per week, work shift fear, and fear of punishment or job loss. Consistent with previous studies, there was an association found between many nurse demographic attributes and the attitude of nurses towards reporting medication errors. To remove or reduce this safety issue, these nurses within an organization may require assistance in defining an ME, determining when they should report it, and how to report it to whom.