Devastatingly Human: An Analysis of Registered Nurses’ Medication Error Accounts

Abstract

Despite many safeguards, nurses make the majority of medication administration errors. The purpose of our research was to investigate the perceived causes for such errors and to better understand how nurses deal with them. We performed an interpretive analysis of 158 accounts by nurses who made self-identified medication errors. We found common themes among these accounts. First, although nurses admitted responsibility for errors, they simultaneously identified a variety of external contributing factors. Second, nurses' accounts were often framed in terms of "being new," with the underlying background expectancy of inexperience. Third, emotionally devastating visceral responses to errors were common and often incongruent with error severity. Fourth, nurses had to deal with fear. Fifth, nurses voiced frustrations with technologies and regulations. Sixth, embedded within many of the accounts was a "lessons learned" theme, through which nurses developed "personal rules" as a result of an error. We conclude with suggestions for additional research.

Psychological responses, coping and supporting needs of healthcare professionals as second victims

“…). Despite the severe responses, Treiber & Jones () appreciated the beneficial effect of guilt in preventing incident recurrence.…”

“…). A grounded theory study of nurses' accounts by Treiber & Jones () detailed that although participants did not always recall the details, their emotional memory lingered. These indicate substantial suffering in second victims.…”

“…). Treiber & Jones () acknowledged that it allowed second victims to move on and maintain their professional identity. The cross‐country survey of nurses and doctors previously involved in a medical error delineated “approach” and “reappraisal” functions which corresponded to discussion with medical personnel and learning from mistakes (Harrison et al.…”

Regrets Associated with Providing Healthcare: Qualitative Study of Experiences of Hospital-Based Physicians and Nurses

“…At the level of patient care, regret may reduce the risk of errors, if it motivated learning from one's mistakes [24] and the implementation of preventive measures. Conversely, regret could also increase errors due to concentration problems of the healthcare providers, but also because of a widespread use of a strategy of acceptance of medical errors [19], [25].…”

Medication Errors, Routines, and Differences Between Perioperative and Non‐perioperative Nurses

“…19,20 This paper does not reflect a separate study. 19,20 This paper does not reflect a separate study.…”