Psychometric characteristics of nursing care complexity scale in medication errors, Iran

Twenty-first century challenges of nursing work is increasing complexity of care in the workplace. On the other word, medical errors is major challenge threaten for patient safety in all countries. The most common medical errors that identified are medication errors. With changing patterns of health services, the complexity increases in all workplaces. Since the medication administration is the main duties of nurses and drug companies influence of different drugs and different drugs for many patients, illegible handwriting of doctors, no prescription necessary recommendations, policies and new technology enterprise to apply, so it is a complicated process and in health care, the care complexity is one of the variables the affect on the occurrence of medication errors by nurses. This aim of study was translation, validity and reliability of care complexity scale in medication errors by nurses that for this purpose, the scale translates by Wilde and colleagues model (2005), content and face validity using the 12 specialists and nurses reviewed and revised. Then the 115 nurses in teaching - therapeutic centers of shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were asked to complete the scale. Factor analysis revealed that scale had single factor. Also reliability using Cranach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency showed moderate reliability of scale (α =0.61) and correlation coefficient in test- retest for stability (r =0.88). Although translation of care complexity scale in medical errors has satisfactory reliability and validity and can be used in the Iranian health system but is recommended criterion validity of scale examine by using other scales.