Prevalence of medical errors and barriers to report among nurses and nursing students in Jordan: A cross-sectional study

Background: Medical errors (MEs) are serious but preventable threats to patient safety. Annually, 421 million hospitalizations take place worldwide, from those an estimation of around 43 million MEs occur. Low-middle income countries account for two-thirds of these MEs. Aim: To examine the prevalence and contributing factors predicting MEs and its reporting among Jordanian nurses and nursing students. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional descriptive design. A total of 178 nursing students and 123 bedside nurses participated in this study. Study data were collected through a five-section newly developed survey. Results: MEs are highly prevalent in Jordanian hospitals. More than 70% of nurses and nursing students have no previous training in preventing and reporting MEs. The most prevalent type of MEs were related to changing positions for bedridden patients followed by medication errors, iatrogenic infections, and falls. Staff shortage was the main cause of MEs from participants' perspectives. Conclusion: A central concern of these results is the need for providing effective programs on identifying and preventing MEs in health-care settings and integrate these programs into graduate nursing curriculums. Strategies should be implemented to establish electronic systems that are accessible, confidential, and a time-saver to enhance reporting MEs.