Nurses' attitude and intention of medication administration error reporting

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Quality

Background:

• Medication administration errors are frequently underreported in healthcare settings.
• The relationship between nurses' attitudes, intentions, and actual reporting behaviors for medication errors remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of nurses' attitudes and intentions on their actual reporting behaviors concerning medication administration errors.
• To explore the predictive role of nurse managers' and co-workers' attitudes, and perceived report control on nurses' reporting behaviors.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study utilizing self-administered questionnaires based on the theory of planned behavior.
• 548 staff nurses from general and intensive care units participated.
• Path analysis was employed to examine the relationships between attitudes, intention, and reporting behaviors.

Main Results:

• Nurse managers' and co-workers' attitudes significantly predicted nurses' attitudes towards error reporting.
• Nurses' attitudes positively influenced their intention to report medication administration errors.
• No significant association was found between intention and actual medication error reporting behavior.

Conclusions:

• Colleague perspectives and nurses' attitudes are linked to the intention to report medication errors.
• Hospitals should prioritize enhancing nurses' awareness and recognition of medication error occurrence to improve reporting.
• Focusing on increasing nurses' awareness is crucial for managing medication administration errors effectively.