The Relationship Between Nurses' Sleep Quality and Their Tendency to Commit Medical Errors.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Patient Safety
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Sleep quality is a crucial factor influencing healthcare professionals' performance and patient outcomes.
• Previous research suggests a potential link between fatigue and medical errors, but specific data on nurses' sleep quality and error tendencies is needed.
• Understanding this relationship is vital for developing targeted interventions to improve both nurse well-being and healthcare quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between nurses' sleep quality and their propensity to make medical errors.
• To identify demographic and professional factors associated with sleep quality and medical error tendencies in nurses.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 378 nurses from state, private, and university hospitals in Western Turkey (September 2020 - October 2021).
• Data collection utilized the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality assessment and the Medical Error Tendency Scale in Nursing (METSN) for error tendency evaluation.
• Sociodemographic data, including age, marital status, education, working hours, and shift schedules, were also collected via face-to-face interviews.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported poor sleep quality (mean PSQI score: 8.25 ± 4.81) and a low tendency for medical errors (mean METSN score: 230.29 ± 14.15).
• Significant differences in sleep quality and medical error tendencies were observed across various demographic factors, including age, marital status, and education level.
• A statistically significant, moderate, negative correlation (r = -0.548, p < 0.001) was found between PSQI and METSN scores, indicating that poorer sleep quality is associated with a higher tendency for medical errors.

Conclusions:

• The study concludes that nurses in the sample exhibited poor sleep quality and a low tendency to commit medical errors.
• A clear inverse relationship exists: as nurses' sleep quality deteriorates, their likelihood of making medical errors increases.
• These findings underscore the importance of addressing nurses' sleep health to enhance patient safety and reduce medical errors.