An Exploration of Nurses’ Attitudes and Beliefs on Reporting Medication Errors

Abstract

Background: Medication errors in health care are prevalent. Nurses play an important role in reporting; however errors remain underreported in incident reporting systems. Understanding the perspective of nurses will inform strategies to improve reporting and build systems to reduce errors. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore nurses’ perceptions and attitudes of medication error reporting practices. Methods: This qualitative study used direct content analysis to analyze interview sessions with 21 total nurses. Results: Participant’s description of medication error reporting practices fell into 2 themes. Internal factors described circumstances within nurses themselves that affect reporting. External factors described outside influences from processes or places. Conclusions: Medication error reporting is a multidimensional phenomenon with internal and external factors impacting nurses’ attitudes and willingness to report errors. Nurses need support from leadership to understand that reporting medication errors can improve practice and impact patient outcomes.