RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Role of registered nurses in error prevention, discovery and correction
JF Quality and Safety in Health Care
JO Qual Saf Health Care
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 117
OP 121
DO 10.1136/qshc.2007.022699
VO 17
IS 2
A1 Rogers, A E
A1 Dean, G E
A1 Hwang, W-T
A1 Scott, L D
YR 2008
UL http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/17/2/117.abstract
AB Background: Registered nurses have a vital role in discovering and correcting medical error.Objective: To describe the type and frequency of errors detected by American critical care nurses, and to ascertain who made the errors discovered by study participants.Methods: Daily logbooks were used to collect information about errors discovered by a random sample of 502 critical care nurses during a 28-day period.Results: Although the majority of errors discovered and corrected by critical care nurses involved medications (163/367), procedural errors were common (n = 115). Charting and transcription errors were less frequently discovered. The errors discovered by participants were attributed to a wide variety of staff members including nurses, doctors, pharmacists, technicians and unit secretaries.Conclusions: Given the importance of nurses in maintaining patient safety, future studies should identify factors that enhance their effectiveness to prevent, intercept and correct healthcare errors.