Study to assess the healthcare professional’s perception of medication administration errors and barriers in reporting medication errors in a tertiary care teaching hospital in south India

Objective: Medication errors in hospitals are most frequent cause of the errors that interrupt the healthcare system. The aim of this study is to assess Health care professionals’ perceptions of Medication errors and the related factors in a tertiary teaching hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study using a validated questionnaire from previous similar studies was conducted in a convenient sample of 170 physicians and 202 nurses working in medical and surgical departments. The data was collected and analyzed from May 2021toAugust 2021 at tertiary care teaching Hospital. Results: The sample consisted of 372 subjects, with a response rate of 78%. Study participants demonstrated a sufficient awareness to report a Medication error if a patient does not receive a medication as prescribed. The most common cause of Medication errors were shortages of nursing staff in the wards (83.9%), look-alike medications (79%), higher number of patients with severe illnesses in wards (72.6%), phone call order by physicians (68.8%).The main barriers for reporting Medication errors were Heavy workload due to the high number of patients (82%), attitude and personality of nurses (78.8%), concerns about the effect of MEs on individual's earnings (24.2%). Conclusion: Majority of the participants had sufficient knowledge and favorable attitude towards medication error reporting. Among other causes, issues such as shortages of nursing staff in the wards are reported as the most important causes of medication errors. A heavy workload due to a high number of patients was the most important reason for not reporting MEs. Thus, appropriate strategies (e.g., reducing the nursing staff workload) should be developed to address MEs and improve patient safety.