Medication Errors Information Status of nurses working in A hospital and Evaluation of Medication Errors Reporting of Related Thoughts

The goal of patient safety is to provide safety by creating a favourable environment for the patient and to keep them away from the dangerous practices and hazards. In achieving this goal, one of the prominently significant issues to consider is the medication safety. The research adopted descriptive- cross-sectional design. The study aimed to evaluate nurses' opinions about reporting medication errors and level of knowledge about medication errors. 114 nurses working at a private university hospital agreed to participate in the study. There were questionnaires for identifying personal characteristics, opinions on reporting the medication errors, and an identification form for the knowledge of medication errors. Mean age of nurses was 29.37±7.10 years old and 51,8% of the nurses graduated from undergraduate program. Mean score of Assessment Form for Knowledge of Medication was 82.52±17.19. Nearly of all sample (97.7%) stated to have a training about medication safety and 78.1% of the nurses perceived the act of reporting medication errors as a success criterion. When asked about in case of a report of medication errors; 8.8% of the nurses told that reporting would be perceived as a personal incompetency; 2.6% of them told it would damage their work careers; 4.4% of them told it would put their job in jeopardy; 4.4% of them told it would be of no use to report. Nearly thirty percent (28.9%) of nurses claimed the problem can be settled in between the parties; 9.6% of them told they do not know how to report; 0.9% of the nurses stated that there is no need for reporting the errors; 0.9% of them told they have concerns about the report data will be on their personnel file in case they report the errors. There found none statistical inferences between the education levels, working periods, specialties of nurses, or whether they had medication safety training and the point averages on the Assessment Form for Knowledge of Medication Errors (p> 0.05). In training sessions to enable the staff to report for the patient safety, it is important that reporting errors are not perceived as punishment for the employees but a crucial part of the system. It is highly suggested that corporate strategies are developed and educational planning are made to improve nurses' skills to put their knowledge of reporting medication errors into practice.