Perceived Barriers Toward Medication Error Reporting Among Nurses in Governmental Hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

2 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Sela ngor, Malaysia

3 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Medication errors (MEs) are a significant concern in healthcare, being one of the most prevalent types of medical errors. However, these errors are often underreported, which complicates efforts to improve patient safety and care quality. Objective(s): This study investigates the barriers to reporting MEs from the perspective of nurses in four governmental hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 417 nurses in four governmental hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Nurses (who were registered with the Saudi Commission for Heath Specialties and had at least one year of work experience) were selected using a proportional random sampling. An online questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics and barriers to reporting MRs was used to collect the data. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Results: Medication errors were reported by 41.2% of nurses. Lack of knowledge about the process of reporting MEs was the main perceived barrier, followed by not wanting to punish a colleague or friend. Non-Saudi and nurses with 5-10 years of experience were found to have higher perceptions of reporting MEs. Conclusion: The high frequency of non-reporting of MEs among nurses in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is of great concern. Effective programs to improve the ME reporting system need to be developed to mitigate this problem.

Keywords

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics