Medication Errors in Intensive Care Units in the Viewpoint of Nurses: A Descriptive Study

Background & Aims: Medication errors commonly occur in clinical nursing. The present study aimed to determine the causes of medication errors, their lack of report, and their frequency in intensive care units (ICUs). Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on 300 nurses engaged in the ICUs and critical care units of three teaching hospitals affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences in Qom, Iran in 2019. The participants were selected via census sampling. Data were collected using a demographic form and medication error questionnaire with confirmed reliability and validity. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21 using descriptive and inferential statistics (analysis of variance and independent t-test). Results: Systemic errors (mean score: 4.1±1.2) and pharmacy errors (mean score: 2.5±1.1) were the most and least important causes of medication errors, respectively. In addition, management errors (mean score: 3.8±1) and disagreement regarding the definition of medication errors (mean score: 2.6±1.1) were the most and least significant causes of the non-reporting of medication errors, respectively. On the other hand, intravenous errors (22.56%) had higher frequency compared to non-intravenous errors (21.89%). Among the demographic variables, the analysis of variance indicated significant associations between age (P=0.029) and job experience in the current ward (P=0.007) with medication errors. Conclusion: According to the results, reducing the incidence of medication error by nurses requires the provision of proper conditions to minimize systemic errors in hospitals. Furthermore, nursing managers must facilitate error reporting for nurses, while meticulously monitoring the administration of drugs by nurses, especially in the case of intravenous medications.