Nurses' perspectives and experiences on medical errors: A qualitative study

IntroductionMedical errors are among the most important factors that threaten patient safety. Therefore, nurses' perspectives and experiences about medical errors are important for this manner.AimsThe aim of this study was to determine in depth the perspectives and experiences of nurses related to how they define medical error, as well as its causes, management and reporting.DesignThis descriptive, exploratory study involved a qualitative design.MethodsA total of 15 clinical nurses from eleven provinces were reached by snowball sampling method. In the study, nurses' perspectives on medical errors were obtained through semistructured in-depth online interviews conducted based on phenomenological methods. Descriptive analysis was used in the analysis of the data obtained from the interviews. The research was conducted following the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative checklist.ResultsThe resulting 26 codes were categorized under seven themes: "Definition of medical error", "Experience of medical errors", "Frequency of medical errors", "Causes of medical errors", "Reporting of medical errors", "Medical error approach" and "Prevention of medical errors".ConclusionsThe results show that it is still necessary to increase the awareness of nurses about medical errors and the importance of error reporting. In addition, it reveals the need for leadership to eliminate the negative approach to medical errors and shows that nurse managers should be empowered accordingly.Implications for Nursing Practice and PolicyIt is the first step of quality and safe care to reveal nurses' perspectives on medical errors, their thoughts about medical errors and their experiences about errors in their institutions. In this study, nurses' knowledge, opinions and experiences regarding medical errors were revealed in this qualitative study. Therefore, this study offers important clues to nursing services, hospital managers and policy makers for clinical and institutional arrangements.