The relationship between medication errors and nurses’ work environment

Background: Providing safe care is one of the nursing objectives and medication error is considered as a threatening factor for patient safety. The current study was conducted to determine the relationship between the medication errors and nurses’ work environment.

Methods: This cross-sectional, correlational study was performed on nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2012. A total of 300 nurses were selected through stratified sampling method. Data were collected using a personal information form, Nurses’ Work Environment scale, and medication errors questionnaire. To analyze the data, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, Kruskal–Wallis, and independent t-test were run, using SPSS16.

Results: The mean score of medication errors of nurses was 15.12±4.14 and the mean score of nurses work environment index was 67.34±5.6. Most types of reported medication errors were associated with medication administration later or sooner than the scheduled time (24%), lack of necessary measures before medication administration (17.4%), and non-compliance with the time of medication administration (10.9%). The nurse-physician relationship was reported as the most adverse aspect in context of work environment. There was a significant negative relationship between the occurrence of medication errors and work environment (P<0.016, r=-0.8).

Conclusion: Based on the study results, as nurses’ working conditions improve, the rate of medication errors is lowered. Thus, application of effective strategies by managers for improving work conditions, and in turn, providing safe care for patients is of great significance.