Knowledge, attitude and practice on medication error reporting among health practitioners in a tertiary care setting in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices towards the reporting of medication errors among health practitioners at King Abdulaziz Medical city in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted in a convenient sample of 62 physicians and 303 nurses, between June and September 2017 at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Results: The sample consisted of 365 subjects, with a response rate of 73%. Approximately 97% had sufficient knowledge and a favorable attitude (90%) towards medication error reporting. With regard to reporting practices, some participants (21.6%) preferred to educate those who made a medication error, rather than reporting it. Approximately 44.8% had not reported medication errors during their work experience. Conclusion: Study participants demonstrated a sufficient knowledge base with regard to medication error reporting. Despite sufficient knowledge and favorable attitudes towards medication error reporting, there is still an under-reporting of medication errors when it comes to practice. We recommend the establishment of frequent medication safety courses as a prerequisite for all health care providers. We also advocate the application of error detecting alarms such as digital programs to minimize medication errors.

Awareness, Attitudes, Practices, and Perceived Barriers to Medical Error Incident Reporting Among Faculty and Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) in a Dental Clinic

“…In particular, nurses reported a higher level of awareness towards IRS than did other specialties, which is in accord with the findings of Alsulami et al, who observed that the nurses demonstrated higher reporting knowledge than did their peers. 5 By contrast, Km, B et al observed that pharmacists had more knowledge of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting than did nurses or other specialties. 15 While reviewing the attitude scores, faculty and HCPs did not differ with respect to gender, nationality, age, or working experience.…”

“…Especially in the Saudi Arabian context, various researchers have studied the healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards medical error or adverse drug reactions reporting in Saudi tertiary care hospitals. 5,[7][8][9] A study revealed the barriers, facilitators, strategies, and predictors for adverse drug reactions reporting in three general hospitals in Saudi Arabia. 10 Another study revealed the attitudes of dental professional staff and auxiliaries in Saudi dental institutions over the medical errors' disclosure.…”

“…For example, while fear of blame is mentioned as a reason for underreporting by many physicians, this reason is less frequently mentioned by nurses. 5 The systematic collection of data is an accompaniment to the enforcement of safety culture manifested by a blame-free environment, a focus on systematic improvement, and adequate leadership involvement in responding to incidents. 6 Incident reporting systems are used as a means to streamline reporting in healthcare institutions.…”

Patients' knowledge, awareness, and attitude regarding patient safety at a teaching hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…[ 24 ] In that context, a paper published by Alsulami et al . revealed that 43.4% of healthcare providers do not have a clear definition of medication errors,[ 25 ] suggesting that patients' knowledge is a continuum of their healthcare providers. Therefore, and starting 2017, the WHO has aimed to reduce the “medication-related errors” to half in 5 years.…”

Current situation of medication errors in Saudi Arabia: a nationwide observational study

“…In Saudi Arabia, few studies have examined the reporting pattern of medication errors among healthcare providers. One study found that 44.8% of healthcare practitioners never reported medication errors [16].…”