Assessment the relationship between fatigue and medication errors in nurses working in Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Kashan

Medication errors are one of the most common errors in care and these errors have a double importance among nurses. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 350 nurses working in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran by stratified sampling method. Data were collected using Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire, The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, and medication errors questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 and independent t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient and Tukey post hoc test. Based on the findings of this study, the incidence of nursing medication errors in the past 3 months was 12.39 ± 2.42 (total score 19) and the fatigue score of 78 ± 16.5 (total score 140) was moderate. There was a direct and significant correlation between the amount of fatigue with the occurrence of drug errors (r = 0.40, P < 0.001). According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that the occurrence of drug errors in nurses is common. Therefore, it is necessary to teach the principles of correct medication taking into account all safety points, identifying and eliminating the factors leading to fatigue of nurses in each department and providing conditions for nursing fatigue moderated.