Moral and Ethical Sensitivity as Predictors of Nurses' Attitudes Towards Medication Errors

Abstract

Background: Moral and ethical sensitivity are the foundation and cornerstones of nursing care that enable nurses to take care of their patients effectively and ethically. On the other hand, medication administration errors are considering a major threatening factor for patient's safety. So, nurses should have high levels of moral and ethical sensitivity to take the best decisions for patients and therefore, play a key role in promoting ethical values and decreasing medication administration errors' rate. The present study aimed to assess moral and ethical sensitivity as predictors of nurses' attitudes towards medication errors at Al-Ahrar Teaching Hospital, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. For this research, a descriptive correlation design was used. A simple random sample of 280 nurses was chosen from the above mentioned setting. To fulfill the purpose of this study three tools were used in data collection, moral sensitivity questionnaire, ethical sensitivity questionnaire and scale of attitudes towards medical errors. Results showed that 77.5 % of nurses had a high level of moral sensitivity. However, 55.8% of them had a moderate level of ethical sensitivity. Likewise, 98.9% of them had a positive attitude towards medication errors. Furthermore, there were significant and positive correlations between nurses' attitudes towards medication errors as regards their moral and ethical sensitivity, where p-value < 0.001. Conclusion: Moral and ethical sensitivity were significant predictors of nurses' attitudes towards medication errors. Recommendations: Ethical issues should be incorporated during both school education and in-service training programs after graduation. Hospital administrators should focus on handling moral conflicts in constructive ways, not by trying to erase the problem. Head nurses should guide and direct health team to develop strategies to reduce and prevent medication administration errors.