Perception of Medication error among Interns and Staff Nurses in a Selected Hospital at Mangaluru- A Mixed Method Approach

Abstract

Objectives: The present study assessed the perception of medication error among the Interns and Staff

Nurses and also elicited the experiences of those who have witnessed or committed medication error.

Method: A mixed method approach was adopted, and by Purposive sampling technique, 50 Interns and

50 Staff Nurses were selected as participants. The initial Quantitative Phase Data was obtained by using

Demographic proforma, and Modified Gladstone scale of medication error. Qualitative Phase data was

collected by Semi-Structured open-ended Questionnaire.

Result: The findings of Descriptive and Inferential statistical analysis revealed that Majority of the Staff

nurses had High Perception (52%) and Interns had Moderate perception (68%) about the medication error.

Staff nurses (51.14) perception of medication error was higher than that of Interns (46.70). In the second

phase Qualitative data was collected by Semi-Structured open-ended Questionnaire, and the verbatim was

analyzed by Colaizzi’s data analysis. With the verbatim, six themes emerged, which are Patient safety threat,

Physical and physiological effect, Handling the error, reporting attitude, negative emotions, and problem

focus strategy of medication error. The triangulation of Qualitative and Quantitative findings revealed the

congruency between the four domains like causes, types, reporting behavior, and Views or feelings on

medication error.

Conclusion: The study identified the gap between the nurse’s perception of medication error with their

actual knowledge. It was clear that the nurses need specific information about what constitutes medication

error.