The Palestinian Conference on Health Sciences - Towards Promoting and Developing a Quality-Health Care, Jerusalem

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Research Title: 
Nurses' Experiences of the Most Common Medical Errors in The Intensive Care Unit and The Coronary Care Unit a Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study
Authors: 
Aidah Alkaissi
Authors: 
Batat M
Authors: 
Kittani KH
Authors: 
Ali A
Country: 
Palestine
Date: 
Fri, 2013-11-01
Research Abstract: 

Background: Human error occurs in every occupation. Medical errors may result in a near miss or an actual injury to a patient that has nothing to do with the underlying medical condition. Intensive care has one of the highest incidences of medical error and patient injury in any specialty medical area; thought to be related to the rapidly changing patient status and complex diagnoses and treatments.
Aims: The primary aim of the study is to investigate nurses’ experience of the most common medical errors in critical care units and coronary care units.
The secondary aims: to assess the nature, consequences and associations of medical errors in ICUs/CCUs, to examine the factors influencing nurses' error, and to propose strategies to prevent errors.
Setting: five intensive care units(ICU) and two coronary care units(CCU) in five governmental hospitals and one coronary care unit in a private hospital in the west bank of Palestine.
Sample: fifteen registered nurses (12 ICU nurses, 3 CCU nurses ) 8 men and 7 women who have at least 2 years experience in the critical or coronary care units.
Research methodological design: Using qualitative methodology, hermenutic phemenological approachs, semi-structured interviews were guided by a script which included a series of both open-ended and Pop questions. Data analysis was performed by using the thematic structural analysis.
Results: the nurses'experiences of the most common medical errors in ICUand CCU are presented in nine themes: Medication errors, technical equipments errors, patient’s monitoring errors, resuscitation errors, nursing procedures errors, intravenous solutions errors, patient care errors, documentation and assessment errors, and communication errors among health teams.
Conclusion: Practical nurses made substantially more medical errors. To work frequent shifts of 24 hours is a strong factor to commit medical errors. Increase the competency and number of nurses per patients, reduce the number of working hours and availability of standard and guidelines can reduce medical errors and address patient safety concerns in intensive and coronary care units.
Key words: nurses' experience, intensive care unit, coronary care unit, medical error, patient safety, hermeneutic, phenomenology.