Experiences regarding medical errors and opinions about patient safety of the adult education centre attendees

This study has been conducted descriptively with the purpose of determining experiences regarding medical errors and opinions about patient safety of the adult education centre attendees. The population of the study was the Ankara Mamak Public Education Centre and Ankara Başkent Public Education Centre. Statistical sample was composed of 567 individual attendees. Data were collected through questionnaire forms. Frequency, percentage distribution and chi-square test were used to evaluate the data. Forty-five point one percent of the subjects have already heard about the concept of patient safety. Ninety-four point seven percent of the subjects stated that patient safety has been important because of medical errors causing health risks (34.9%). Miscommunication between healthcare professionals and patients (69.3%) was the most indicated as reason of medical error. Eighty-three point one percent of the subjects expressed that medical errors could be prevented and 59.1% suggested that the patients could protect themselves from medical errors. Fifty-three point one percent of the subjects and 33.7% of their relatives have been exposed to any medical errors. These errors led to an additional or prolonged treatment in 55.8% of the subjects and in 65.4% of their relatives. In the light of the findings obtained, informing individuals about patient safety, medical errors and prevention methods of medical error and using experiences of individuals to ensure patient safety as a data sources has been advised.Key Words: Patient Safety, Medical Error, Experience, Opinion, Nurse.