The gap between nurses and residents in a community hospital's error-reporting system.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about current attitudes and practices among residents and nurses regarding error reporting. A survey was conducted to suggest differing needs for training and other interventions to enhance reporting.


METHODS
The authors surveyed 24 residents and 60 nursing staff in all inpatient care units at a community hospital from 2001 to 2002. The authors used self-administered questionnaires to assess respondents' knowledge and use of the hospital's error-reporting system, perceptions and attitudes toward error reporting, reported behaviors in hypothetical error scenarios, and conditions that influence error reporting.


RESULTS
Only half of the residents (54%) knew about the hospital's error-reporting system, whereas nearly all nurses did (97%; p = .001). Only 13% of the residents (versus 72% of the nurses) had ever used the reporting system (p = .001). Residents (29%) were less likely than nurses (64%) to report being comfortable discussing mistakes with supervisors (p = .006), and residents (38%) were more likely than nurses (0%) to rate the hospital atmosphere as nonsupportive of error reporting (p = 001).


CONCLUSIONS
Error-reporting systems may give a biased picture of the true pattern of medical errors, and hospitals may need to initiate other interventions to improve residents' error reporting.
Wild
Dorothea
D
Department of Internal and Preventive Medicine, Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut, USA. Dorothea.Wild@yale.edu
Bradley
Elizabeth H
EH
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003625:Data Collection; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors; D008508:Medication Errors; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital