Knowledge and Attitude of the Faculty Members and Residents of Guilan University Towards the Medical Errors, the Barriers and Predisposing Factors During 2020:

Background:  Patient safety is one of the main goals in a health system. Medical errors are considered as a major threat to patient safety. One of the effective strategies to reduce this risk is to report these errors even when the patient has not been affected. This study aimed to investigate the main barriers to report medical errors and some related factors. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in academic hospitals afflicted to Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) during 2020. University faculty members and residents enrolled the survey and a questionnaire was filled out via a face to face interview by the responsible resident of anesthesiology. Results: Finally, 366 people, 156 faculty members and 210 residents filled out the questionnaires. Overall 271 (74.2%); 134 (85.9%) faculty members and 137 (65.6%) residents, the main barrier to report medical errors was concerning about legal consequences. Also, concerning about losing job credit (63.4%) and losing the patient's trust (61.2%) were the other important factors. It was also found that the main predisposing factors of medical errors occurrence were high workload and large number of patients (83.3%), long work shifts and physicians fatigue (80.8%). Also High job stress and lack of feeling of support from higher authorities (70.5%) and lack of adequate equipment and appropriate medical facilities (56%) were known as the most related factors based on their perspective Conclusion: According to the findings of this research, the main barrier to report medical errors was legal consequences and the main predisposing factors were high workload, large number of patients, long working shifts and physicians’ fatigue. Attempt should be made to plan programs to improve the current conditions.