Voluntary Medication Error Reporting by ED Nurses: Examining the Association With Work Environment and Social Capital.
INTRODUCTION
Medication errors are one of the most frequently occurring errors in health care settings. The complexity of the ED work environment places patients at risk for medication errors. Most hospitals rely on nurses' voluntary medication error reporting, but these errors are under-reported. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among work environment (nurse manager leadership style and safety climate), social capital (warmth and belonging relationships and organizational trust), and nurses' willingness to report medication errors.


METHODS
A cross-sectional descriptive design using a questionnaire with a convenience sample of emergency nurses was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive, correlation, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis statistics.


RESULTS
A total of 71 emergency nurses were included in the study. Emergency nurses' willingness to report errors decreased as the nurses' years of experience increased (r = -0.25, P = .03). Their willingness to report errors increased when they received more feedback about errors (r = 0.25, P = .03) and when their managers used a transactional leadership style (r = 0.28, P = .01).


DISCUSSION
ED nurse managers can modify their leadership style to encourage error reporting. Timely feedback after an error report is particularly important. Engaging experienced nurses to understand error root causes could increase voluntary error reporting.
['Farag|Amany|A|', 'Blegen|Mary|M|', 'Gedney-Lose|Amalia|A|', 'Lose|Daniel|D|', 'Perkhounkova|Yelena|Y|']
D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D016529:Emergency Nursing D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008508:Medication Errors D008875:Middle Aged D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital D015279:Organizational Culture D066270:Social Capital D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D017132:Workplace D055815:Young Adult
Medication error reporting Leadership style Safety climate Organizational trust Emergency department