Purpose: The aim of this descriptive study was to determine nurses‟ tendency to make medical errors and factors affecting them.
Materials and Methods: Currently employed nurses were recruited through social networks and blogs. An online survey technique was used to collect data between May 1 and July 15, 2018. The study was approved by the ethics committee. Written permission was obtained from the social network and blog owner, and informed consent was obtained from participants prior to study participation. Data were collected using a semi-structured question form “Survey on Participants' Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Medical Errors” developed by the researchers based on literature review, and a “Tendency Scale for Medical Errors in Nursing.”
Results: The study was completed with 390 participants. 55.1% of participants were between the ages of 20 and 30 years, 87.7% were women, 63.6% were on the night and day shifts and 51.8% stated that they were satisfied with their work. Of participants, 82.6% stated that they had received training on patient safety and medical errors and 53.1% stated that they had made a medical error before. 76.7% stated that drug administration was the most common medical error. The majority of participants stated that excessive workload (87.9%) and fatigue due to long duty hours (75.9%) were the most common causes of medical errors. Participants‟ mean score on the Malpractice Trend Scale in Nursing was 223.10±19.51, indicating that they have a low tendency to make medical errors. The mean score of female participants (Z= -2.479; p= 0.013) over 31 years of age (Z= -5.004; p<0.001) who have been working for 13 years and more (Z= -5.699; p<0.001) on night shifts (Z= -3.925; p= 0.001) and who had received training on patient safety and medical errors (Z= -2.424; p= 0.0015) and were very satisfied (Z= -5.012; p<0.001) or satisfied with their work (Z= -3.984; p<0.001) were statistically significantly higher.
Conclusion: Results show that nurses have a low tendency to make medical errors. Female nurses over 31 years of age who have been working for over 13 years on night shifts and had received training on patient safety and medical errors, and are very satisfied or satisfied with their work have a lower tendency to make medical errors than other groups. It is recommended that in-service training programs and courses on medical errors in nursing be developed and that sufficient number of nurses be employed to minimize risk factors for medical errors.