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Published on: February 16, 2011
Nurse Practitioners' Perspectives on Medical Errors and Caregiver Support
Sunnie Nield1, Marie M Prothero2, Katreena Merrill2
1Nurse Practitioner at Mountain West Women's Health Clinic, Tooele, Utah, USA.
Aim:
To explore nurse practitioners' attitudes towards medical error perception, approach and cause using the Medical Error Attitude Scale and examine their experiences following a medical error and the support received.
Design:
A cross-sectional, descriptive study using an electronic survey.
Methods:
A convenience sample of nurse practitioners licensed in Utah was invited to participate. The survey included the Medical Error Attitude Scale, demographic items, questions regarding error reporting, experiences after an error and support received or desired.
Results:
Nurse practitioners generally have positive attitudes towards medical errors. Higher scores were observed among individuals with doctoral-level education, female respondents and those employed in organisations with formal support programmes. While most nurse practitioners reported their medical errors, many indicated they did not receive institutional support afterwards. Peer support emerged as the most frequently desired form of assistance.
Conclusion:
Nurse practitioners experience medical errors while providing care and require meaningful, accessible support. Despite favourable attitudes, many reported limited institutional support. Additional research is needed to understand their support needs following medical errors better.
Reporting Method:
We adhered to the STROBE guidelines for the reporting method.
Patient Or Public Contribution:
No patient or public contribution.
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