Individual characteristics of nurses to detect errors in psychopathic hospitals

Abstract

Nurses who often detect errors in medical practice are highly esteemed for their capacity to prevent medical accidents. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of nurses in psychopathic hospitals who can detect errors during medical practice, both their own and those of others. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to 217 nurses in two psychiatric hospitals whose working career was three years and longer (psychopathic group) to collect information regarding experiences in detecting errors of one's own making and errors of others during medical practice, the actual experiences of making errors, social skills, a safety climate in the wards, and general characteristics of the participants. The valid response rate was 75.6%. The control group consisted of 164 nurses in 11 general hospitals whose working career was three years and longer. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors related to experiences in detecting errors. In the psychopathic group, 76.8% had experienced detecting their own errors. This rate was higher than the control group (70.7%). In the psychopathic group, 87.2% had experienced detecting errors of others. This rate was same as the control group. In the psychopathic group, significant factors related to the experience of detecting one's own errors were：having experienced the clinical errors and a medical accident. Significant factors related to the experience of detecting errors of others were：the managerial position and low Advanced Skills, one of the subscales of social skills. To promote the measures for safety in the psychopathic hospital, it is recommended to utilize the experience of errors or accidents and to share the safety conscience that the nurse in the managerial position has across all members in the ward.