Home health nurses coping with practice care errors

The Institute of Medicine report from 2000 (To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, National Academy Press, Washington, DC) highlighted the magnitude of practice care errors in the US healthcare system as well as the potentially life-threatening consequences they create. Nurses who make care errors experience a devastating mental and emotional impact and do not know how to deal with the experience. This study assessed how nurses cope with care errors and what strategies they use. A survey design was used for this study and 192 home health nurses completed the survey in a southeastern state. Packets containing sealed surveys, a flier, and a description of the study were mailed to the nurses. Results of the study with home health nurses indicate that nurses felt angry at themselves for making the care errors. Planful problem-solving was the most frequently used coping technique followed by accepting responsibility. The most commonly reported change in practice following a care error experience was paying more attention to detail, followed by personally confirming patient data and changing the organisation of data. Intervention research is needed to help nurses better deal and cope with care errors and to better assess the need for providing such nurses with professional support and counselling after becoming involved in a care error experience.