Barriers to medication administration error reporting in a tertiary hospital in Lebanon

The aim of this study is to identify the key barriers that prevent medication administration errors (MAEs) from being reported by nurses in Lebanese hospitals.

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted at Hotel-Dieu de France Hospital using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 275 responses were recorded and analysed using the IBM SPSS software V.23.0.

Our study showed that 'Fear' and 'Administrative response' present the two main types of barriers to MAE reporting with a frequency of 62.9% and 60.7%, respectively, with more than half of our nurses confirming it (52.7%). The significant administrative barriers are: No positive feedback if medications were given correctly, too much emphasis being placed on MAE and the focus by the nursing administration on the individual rather than looking at the systems as a potential cause of the MAE whereas the significant fear barriers are the chances of suing the nurse if MAE is reported, the fear of adverse consequences of MAE reporting, the blame of nurses if something happens to the patient as a result of the MAE. No significant association was found between the barriers and demographic factors such as age, gender, experience and attending the training and orientation programmes.

The findings highlight the need for targeted strategies to address these types of barriers. Anonymous error reporting, fostering a culture of transparency and adopting a non-punitive reporting system are approaches that can be implemented for optimal performance improvement, enhanced safety and healthcare quality and reduced wasting of the hospitals' financial resources.