Medication Administration Errors and Barriers to Reporting: Critical Care Nurses' Point of View

Abstract

Medication administration errors (MAEs) are a common cause of harm and death in the healthcare sector. These errors not only compromise patient safety but also cost a lot of money around the world. Nurses must report MAEs so that healthcare systems can identify the causes and take preventative measures. This study aims to explore the causes of medication administration errors and barriers to reporting from a critical care nurses' point of view. Method: In the current study, a descriptive research design was employed. A convenience sample of 60 critical care nurses from Mansoura Emergency Hospital with a range of educational backgrounds and at least six months of ICU experience participated in the current study. Data were collected using one tool consisting of three parts, part I: Nurses' socio-demographic characteristics, Part II: Causes of medication errors, and Part III: Barriers to MAEs reporting. Results: heavy workload was the highest possible cause of MAEs (93.33%) among the studied nurses. Additionally, fear factors were perceived as the highest barriers to reporting MAEs with a total score of 44.2±4.9. Conclusion and Recommendations: From critical care nurses' point of view, fear of consequences was the strongest perceived barrier to reporting MAEs. Continuous and effective education programs should be provided for all nurses about MAEs and open feedback systems are required for motivating nurses to report medication errors.