Affiliations: [a]
Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran
| [b]
Research Center for Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| [c]
Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| [d]
Cardiovascular Research Center, Cardiology Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| [e]
Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| [f]
Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Institute of Health Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Zahra Zamanian, Department of Occupational Health and Safety Engineering, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran. E-mail: zamanianz@sums.ac.ir.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The intensive care unit (ICU) is a complex, dynamic, high stress and time-sensitive place. While a variety of rules and regulations provided to reduce medication errors in recent years, many studies have emphasized that medication errors still happen. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this investigation is to predict, reveal and assess medication errors among surgical intensive care unit (SICU) nurses. METHODS:This study was performed in one of the public hospitals in Shiraz, namely Shahid Faghihi hospital. The human error assessment and reduction technique (HEART) method was adopted to measure and assess medication errors in the ICU. RESULTS:Findings indicate that ICU nurses perform 27 main tasks and 125 sub-tasks. The results also showed that setting and using DC shock task has the highest human error probability value, and assessment of patients by a nutritionist has the lowest human error probability value. CONCLUSION:Medical errors are key challenges in the ICU. Therefore, alternative solutions to mitigate medication errors and enhance patient safety in the ICU are necessary. Although the technique can be used in healthcare; there is a need to localize the coefficients and definitions to achieve more accurate results and take appropriate controls. Employing experienced people and providing conditions that reduce the possibility of errors in nurses, increasing the number of staff, and developing specialized and simulated training were identified as the most important control strategies to reduce errors in nurses.
Keywords: Medical errors, HEART, intensive care unit, healthcare, nurses
DOI: 10.3233/WOR-205338
Journal: Work, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 1087-1097, 2022
