Risk of medication errors and nurses' quality of sleep: a national cross-sectional web survey study

We aimed to evaluate quality of sleep and self-perception risk of medication errors, in a significantly-sized sample of nurses in Italy, using a web survey.

An anonymous questionnaire about self-perception of quality of sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI) and risk of medication errors (based on the 7 R-rule), was made up and delivered by social media, i.e., Facebook and Instagram. Risk of medication errors was intended as near misses, i.e., accidents that do not cause the patient harm.

A poor quality of sleep stated by PSQI score >5, was present in 87.9% of subjects and the risk of medication errors during the last shift was reported in 76% of them. However, more than half of nurses' sample (60.1%) reported a good or excellent self-perception quality of sleep. Risk of medication errors was associated with poor quality of sleep and it was independently associated with short resting time after night shift and bad self-perception quality of sleep (OR 3.165, 95% CI 1.468-6.827, p=0.003).

Absence of proper resting is crucial on performance even if nurses perceived a good quality sleep. The relationship between shift work, poor sleep quality, and risk of medication errors represents crucial point for all health professionals' community, and web-survey represents a valuable information in order to capture the risk of medication errors. Health care organizations should encourage such a type of research in order to show a more proactive approach towards patient safety.