title: Medical errors in neonatal intensive care unit at Benha University Hospital, Egypt.
abstract: This study was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit of Benha University Hospital, Egypt from 1 August 2012 to the 31 January 2013 to identify medical errors and to determine the risk factors and consequences of these errors. Errors were detected by follow-up of neonates and review of reports including nursing followup sheets, resident progression notes and investigation reports. We detected 3819 errors that affected 97% of neonates. Types of errors included 403 medication errors (10.55% of total errors), 652 errors in daily routine procedures (17.07%), 1042 errors in invasive procedures (27.28%), 68 errors in nutrition (1.78%), 63 equipment errors (1.64%), 260 administration errors (6.8%), 656 staffing errors (17.18%), 107 environmental errors (2.8%), 448 infection control errors (11.73%) and 120 nosocomial infection errors (3.14%). Medical errors were high in low birth weight, low gestational age neonates and increased with duration of admission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ahmed N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: El-Shazly
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mahmoud A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Al-Azzouny
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
authors.forename: Doaa R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
authors.forename: Neveen T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Abed
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
authors.forename: Sameh S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Attia
mesh_terms: D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies