Identification of factors which affect the tendency towards and attitudes of emergency unit nurses to make medical errors

Aims and objectives To determine individual and professional factors affecting the tendency of emergency unit nurses to make medical errors and their attitudes towards these errors in Turkey. Background Compared with other units, the emergency unit is an environment where there is an increased tendency for making medical errors due to its intensive and rapid pace, noise and complex and dynamic structure. Design A descriptive cross‐sectional study. Methods The study was carried out from 25 July 2014–16 September 2015 with the participation of 284 nurses who volunteered to take part in the study. Data were gathered using the data collection survey for nurses, the Medical Error Tendency Scale and the Medical Error Attitude Scale. Results It was determined that 40.1% of the nurses previously witnessed medical errors, 19.4% made a medical error in the last year, 17.6% of medical errors were caused by medication errors where the wrong medication was administered in the wrong dose, and none of the nurses filled out a case report form about the medical errors they made. Regarding the factors that caused medical errors in the emergency unit, 91.2% of the nurses stated excessive workload as a cause; 85.1% stated an insufficient number of nurses; and 75.4% stated fatigue, exhaustion and burnout. Conclusions The study showed that nurses who loved their job were satisfied with their unit and who always worked during day shifts had a lower medical error tendency. Relevance to clinical practice It is suggested to consider the following actions: increase awareness about medical errors, organise training to reduce errors in medication administration, develop procedures and protocols specific to the emergency unit health care and create an environment which is not punitive wherein nurses can safely report medical errors.