Similarity in Predictors between Near Miss and Adverse Event among Japanese Nurses Working at Teaching Hospitals

Abstract

Near miss-based analysis has been recently suggested to be more important in the medical field than focusing on adverse events, as in the industrial field. To validate the utility of near miss-based analysis in the medical fields, we investigated whether or not predictors of near misses and adverse events were similar among nurses at teaching hospitals. Of the 1,860 nurses approached, 1,737 (93.4%) were included in the final analysis. Potential predictors provided for analysis included gender, age, years of nursing experience, frequency of alcohol consumption, work place, ward rotation, frequency of night shifts, sleepiness during work, frequency of feeling unskilled, nurses' job stressors, working conditions, and depression. Variables for multivariate analysis were determined by bivariable analysis. Ordinal logistic analysis showed that predictors of near misses and adverse events were markedly similar. Parameters that were significantly related to both near misses and adverse events were years of experience, frequency of night shifts, internal ward, and time pressure (p<0.05 for all). The present study suggested that there was a negligible difference between choosing near miss- or adverse event-based analysis when identifying possible causes of adverse events in the medical field.