To report or not to report: a descriptive study exploring ICU nurses' perceptions of error and error reporting.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the emergent factors influencing nurses' error reporting preferences, scenarios were developed to probe reporting situations in the intensive care unit.


METHODS
Three Canadian intensive care unit settings including: one urban academic tertiary hospital, one community hospital and one academic paediatric hospital.


METHODS
Using qualitative descriptive methodology, semi-structured interviews were guided by a script which included a series of both closed and open-ended questions. One near miss and four error scenarios were used as prompts during the interview. Four of the five scenarios were identical across all the three sites; however, one scenario differed in the community site to reflect the distinct practice environment.


METHODS
Three key points of analysis included: nurses' error perception, decision to report the scenario and style of reporting (formal and/or informal).


RESULTS
At least 81% of the 37 participants stated that they would report the events in the respective scenarios. Deviations from standards of practice emerged as the primary rationale for participants' perception of error.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses working in the intensive care unit readily perceive and are willing to report errors or near misses; however they may choose informal or formal methods to report.
Espin
Sherry
S
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. sespin@ryerson.ca
Wickson-Griffiths
Abigail
A
Wilson
Michelle
M
Lingard
Lorelei
L
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000451:nursing* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012308:Risk Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires