Classifying nursing errors in clinical management within an Australian hospital

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Existing patient safety classification systems do not specifically address nursing errors in clinical management.
• A gap exists in taxonomies for categorizing nursing errors within clinical management processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel classification system for nursing errors in clinical management (NECM taxonomy).
• To identify contributing factors and patient consequences associated with these nursing errors.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 241 self-reported nursing incidents related to clinical management.
• Descriptive and content analysis to derive the NECM taxonomy, contributing factors, and patient outcomes.

Main Results:

• The NECM taxonomy comprises four themes: nursing care process (67%), communication (22%), administrative process (5%), and knowledge and skill (6%).
• Half of the incidents resulted in no patient harm.
• Key contributing factors include patient conditions (27%), resources (22%), and workload (18%).

Conclusions:

• The NECM taxonomy guides clinicians and managers in identifying high-risk areas for nursing errors in clinical management.
• This classification system can inform system change management, risk management research, and clinician self-assessment tools.
• Continuous monitoring and action on patient safety issues by nurses globally are essential.