Knowledge, attitude, and practices related to medication errors among nursing professionals: a questionnaire-based study in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract Objective To evaluate the level of understanding (knowledge), beliefs (attitude), and behavior (practice) of staff nurses toward medication errors (MEs). Methods Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to nursing professionals who had at least 1 year of work experience. Each questionnaire contained 19 items assessing “knowledge,” “attitude,” and “practice” attributes toward MEs. Results Responses from 47 nursing respondents were included for the final analysis. The mean knowledge score was 3.8 ± 1.1 (out of 6); 66% and 79% of the respondents had awareness of medication reporting systems and interventions in preventing MEs, respectively. Lack of adequate knowledge in recognizing MEs (P = 0.003), or presuming MEs are not as important enough to be reported (P = 0.002), was considered as the major reason for under-reporting of MEs. Nurses with higher knowledge score were against administration of medication through a different route than that prescribed by the physician (P = 0.023), and tried to rectify an ME (P = 0.020) and stayed with the patient until an oral medication had been swallowed (P = 0.037). Conclusions The nursing professionals were aware of the ME reporting system and methods to prevent the occurrence of MEs. They also exhibited a positive attitude and followed optimal practices in controlling MEs.