Nurses' perceptions of medication errors in Jordan

Background and Aims: The incidence of medication errors is growing and resulting in serious patients' consequences such as hospitalization and death. Worldwide, there is a proliferation of studies about medication errors; however, such studies are absent in Jordan. This is the first nursing study about medication errors in Jordan, and this is one of few international comparative studies about the studied concepts. This study described medication errors in Jordan, as perceived by nurses. Methods: A survey method was used to collect data using the Modified Gladstone's Scale of Medication Errors. A convenient sample of 799 nurses was obtained from three types of hospitals at the Capital Amman and the northern part of Jordan. Findings: Medication errors were high in governmental hospitals as compared to those in teaching hospitals. No differences were found across hospitals in regard to the rate of medication errors. In all hospitals, underreporting was evident; however, nurses in private hospitals seemed to underreport medication errors more than nurses in teaching and governmental hospitals. Nurses in wards were at higher risks to commit medication errors more than nurses in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). There were no differences between nurses in ICUs and those in wards in term of the rate of medication errors. In general, nurses were usually sure when to report medication errors using incident reports; however, ICU nurses were slightly higher than ward nurses in this aspect. Conclusions: High rates of medication errors should encourage the reformation process of health care systems. Recognizing medication errors is the first step to reduce, report, and even eliminate them, especially in acute care settings. Findings pinpoint that nurses have to have staff development about various issues related to medication errors, particularly defining and reporting these errors.