Perceptions of professional nurses on medication errors in a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape

Abstract

As much as medication errors has drawn the attention of many stake holders in health around the globe, literature about medication errors in South Africa appear to be limited, especially in psychiatry. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine the perceptions of professional nurses on medication errors in a psychiatric hospital. The specific objectives are to determine the barriers of reporting medication errors medication errors in a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape, as well as to determine the perceptions of professional nurses on medication errors, in a psychiatric hospital, in the Western Cape. A quantitative research approach and descriptive design was followed to conduct this research study at a Psychiatric Hospital in the Western Cape. The population of this researchstudy was the professional nurses in the selected Psychiatric Hospital. The target population of this research study amounted to (n=129) professional nurses. The participants of this research study were selected according to their availability, and the sample that eventually participated amounted to (n= 69). The data analysis for this research study was performed with the assistance of a statistician, using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 24), while descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data. Demographic factors showed no statistical significance in relation to the variables of barriers to reporting medication errors, and also the variables of the perceptions of professional nurses on the causes of medication errors, when Mann Whitney-U test was used. The Spearman correlation test revealed both statistical and non-statistical significance to the variables of barriers to reporting medication errors and to the variables of the perceptions of professional nurses on the causes of medication errors. The limitations of this research study are that the findings of this study cannot be generalized to a larger population of professional nurses in a specific psychiatric hospital.