Types and causes of medication errors from nurse's viewpoint

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice
• Patient Safety
• Medication Management

Background:

• Medication errors pose a significant threat to patient care, increasing mortality, hospital stays, and costs globally.
• These errors are a critical concern within the nursing profession, impacting overall healthcare quality.
• Understanding the types and causes of nursing medication errors is essential for developing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the types and causes of medication errors made by nurses.
• To identify contributing factors to medication administration errors in a hospital setting.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2009 involving 237 randomly selected nurses at Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
• Data were collected using a questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics and medication errors.
• Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis using SPSS.

Main Results:

• 64.55% of nurses reported making medication errors, with an additional 31.37% reporting near misses.
• The most common errors involved incorrect dosage and infusion rates, often stemming from the use of drug abbreviations and similar drug names.
• Lack of pharmacological knowledge was identified as the primary cause of medication errors. Significant relationships were found between errors and gender (intravenous injections) and number of patients (oral administration).

Conclusions:

• Medication errors represent a substantial challenge in nursing practice.
• A significant number of medication errors go unreported, underscoring the need for a supportive environment.
• Nursing managers should foster positive responses to error reporting to enhance patient safety and improve medication administration practices.