Nurses’ strategies in prevention of nursing error recurrence in chronic critical care: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Nursing errors are common in critical care units while most of them are preventable. Critical care nurses are uniquely positioned to prevent the recurrence of nursing errors. The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies considered or used by nurses in order to prevent the recurrence of nursing errors in chronic critical care units. METHODS: A qualitative design using content analysis method was employed in the present study. In-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of 17 participants, recruited through purposive sampling. This study was conducted in 2011-2012 in Iran. RESULTS: Results indicated that the strategies used by critical care nurses to prevent recurrence of nursing errors include personal strategies (paying more attention, updating information, reminding and hinting, experience sharing, prevention), and expectations from the organization (increasing intrinsic motivation and decreasing work pressure). CONCLUSION: Nursing administrators must be aware of the individual strategies used by the nurses to develop and promote their implementation and underlying these strategies. Identifying and understanding the strategies used by nurses can help them in their support provision. Explored strategies can be used to develop interventions for prevention of nursing errors. Further exploration of the question of how the nursing context will influence strategy selection and why is necessary. Regarding the strategies used by nurses, nurse managers must utilize them in planning in order to develop an error free care.