title: Understanding why medication administration errors may not be reported.
abstract: Because the identification and reporting of medication administration errors (MAE) is a nonautomated and voluntary process, it is important to understand potential barriers to MAE reporting. This paper describes and analyzes a survey instrument designed to assist in evaluating the relative importance of 15 different potential MAE-reporting barriers. Based on the responses of over 1300 nurses and a confirmatory LISREL analysis, the 15 potential barriers are combined into 4 subscales: Disagreement Over Error, Reporting Effort, Fear, and Administrative Response. The psychometric properties of this instrument and descriptive profiles are presented. Specific suggestions for enhancing MAE reporting are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Management & Policy, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. douglas-wakefield@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uden-Holman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Borders
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blegen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaughn
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012308:Risk Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014342:Truth Disclosure