Workload as the most Important Influencing Factor of Medication Errors by Nurses

Background: This research is motivated by the fact that medication errors are serious threats to the safety of patients in hospitals. Nurses are one of the health workers who play a significant role in preventing these errors. Objective: The aim of this quantitative research is to determine the factors that influence the incidence of medication errors by nurses. Methods: The adopted method had a correlative descriptive design and used samples obtained from 164 nurses through a purposive sampling technique. The sample inclusion criteria were the nurses who worked in patient’s rooms, those who were healthy and not sick, not currently in school, and were willing to be respondents. Furthermore, the research instruments were questionnaires, which were developed through the Cronbach's alpha validity and reliability test results of 0.681 and 0.873, respectively. Analysis was conducted using the independent t test, X² (chi-square) and multiple logistic regressions. Results: The results showed that the factors which influenced the incidence of medication errors were work experience, motivation, workload, managerial and environmental elements. Moreover, the variable which contributed the most, with a p-value of 0.004 and OR of 5.387 was workload. Conclusion: Finally, the following factors, including nurse's workload, motivation, work experience, good managerial management and environmental elements, should be considered when preventing medication errors.