How Do We Decline the Medicinal Errors and Refusal in Reporting Medication Errors in Nurses in Critical Coronary Unit? An Action-Research Study

Medication errors are very common in the nursing profession and potentially dangerous for patients. The results of medical errors increase duration of hospitalization and costs and sometimes, cause severe damage and even death to the patient. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of medication errors and to the reasons for occurrence and to execute strategies to solve this problem. This was an action-research study conducted in nurses using head count sampling methodology. A total number of coronary care unit (CCU) nurses from hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Isfahan, Iran) were enrolled. A questionnaire consisted of 4 parts was used for data collection. The best strategy to reduce medication errors was selected by Thomas Analytical Hierarchy Matrix and applied. 3 months later, applied nurses were evaluated by the same questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive and paired t and Pearson correlation coefficient tests. Lack of attention to medical cautions was the most common medication error reported by staff with the prevalence of 30%. Lack of errors reporting system (84%), knowledge deficiency in definition of drug errors (81%) and fear from reporting consequences (80%) were the main causes for refusing to report medication errors. Over three months (after using operational strategies), the mean score of medication error for any personnel declined from 12.5 ± 2.09 to 5.09 ± 1.02 (P = 0.02). There was a significant increase in mean score of medication error reporting (from 1.10 ± 0.41 to 3.10 ± 0.51) after 3 months. To enhance nurses knowledge of medication errors, the recommended strategies such as promoting use of pharmacological book at wards, holding cnontinous medical education (CME) courses, provide a facility for nurse's access to sites on the internet network, andcontinuous assessment of nurse's knowledge and information about medicine especially new upgrades, must be attend by supreme health administrators.