Medication Errors and Its Relationship with Patient Safety Culture: Evidence from Nurses’ Viewpoint During COVID-19 Pandemic

Medication errors can lead to damage to patients with various disabilities or death. This study aims to identify factors affecting the incidence of medication error and its association with patient safety culture from the nurse’s perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 employed in the hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2021. Data were collected by applying a questionnaire for medication error and the standard questionnaire of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation were applied using SPSS software version 23.

The main reasons for medication errors were fatigue due to the workload (3.13±1.16 out of 5), method of supervision in the hospital units (3.06±0.98 out of 5), and massive pile-up of duties (3.00±1.19 out of 5). Other results indicated a significant negative association between factors affecting medication error and patient safety culture (r=-0.574, p=0.002). A significant correlation was observed among factors affecting medication error and patient safety culture with demographic determinants of age and years of working experience (p<0.05). Significant differences were also observed among the two main studied variables, the number of monthly work shifts, and the number of patients (p<0.05).

Applying strategies for the reduction of physical fatigue and mental exhaustion along with balancing work shifts and managing the accumulative duties and massive tasks can help decrease the rates of medication errors.