Non-reporting of Medication Administration Errors among Nurses in Qatar

Background: Prompt recognition and reporting of Medication Administration Errors (MAE) are paramount in ensuring patient safety in hospitals. The data on under-reporting MAE in Middle East Area is limited.

Aim: The study intended to estimate the percentage of fear factor and explore the perception of nursing professionals regarding the reason for the occurrence and underreporting of MAE.

Design: A cross-sectional design was utilized to conduct the current study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in eight hospitals working under Public health sector of Qatar between August and September 2016

Methodology: The data were collected with a purposive sample of 487 clinical nurses employed by the public health sector of Qatar who responded to a pre-designed online questionnaire.

Results: The perceived prevalence of fear factor in non-reporting MAE was 23.45%, 95% confidence interval (C.I).: 16% to 33%. The single factor confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model explained 65% of the variance in the fear factor of nonreporting of medication administration errors. The highest mean score in the subscale of reasons for non-reporting of MAEs includes fear (mean 0.652±1.671) and administrative responses (mean 0.304±1.466), and reporting processes (mean -0.505±1.669), whereas disagreement over hospital definition (mean -1.158±1.528) of error was the least significant reason for nonreporting of MAE by the clinical nurses.

Conclusion: The study focuses on quantifying the fear factor and underscores the Nurses' fear about the professional consequences of reporting MAE. The findings in this study not only provide evidence concerning the fear of reporting MAE but also shed light on the contributing factors and reasons for the nonreporting of MAE. Nursing leadership needs to concentrate on modifying existing strategies and policies to more comprehensible approaches to reporting errors.