Department of Medicine Publications
To Report or Not to Report: A Descriptive Study Exploring ICU Nurses' Perceptions of Error and Error Reporting
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2010
Journal
Intensive & Critical Care Nursing
Volume
26
Issue
1
First Page
1
Last Page
9
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2009.10.002
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the emergent factors influencing nurses' error reporting preferences, scenarios were developed to probe reporting situations in the intensive care unit.
SETTING: Three Canadian intensive care unit settings including: one urban academic tertiary hospital, one community hospital and one academic paediatric hospital. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY/DESIGN: Using qualitative descriptive methodology, semi-structured interviews were guided by a script which included a series of both closed and open-ended questions. One near miss and four error scenarios were used as prompts during the interview. Four of the five scenarios were identical across all the three sites; however, one scenario differed in the community site to reflect the distinct practice environment.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three key points of analysis included: nurses' error perception, decision to report the scenario and style of reporting (formal and/or informal).
RESULTS: At least 81% of the 37 participants stated that they would report the events in the respective scenarios. Deviations from standards of practice emerged as the primary rationale for participants' perception of error.
CONCLUSION: Nurses working in the intensive care unit readily perceive and are willing to report errors or near misses; however they may choose informal or formal methods to report.
