The Effect of Nursing Practice Environment, Individual and Occupational Characteristics on Nurses' Attitudes Towards Medical Error: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: This study was conducted to examine the effect of nursing practice environment individual and occupational characteristics on nurses' attitudes towards medical error. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The questionnaire was used for data collection in a tertiary university hospital from 4 March to 30 April 2022. The questionnaire included the “Information Form”, the “Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI)” and the “Medical Error Attitude Scale”. The population of this study included 1329 nurses. A total of 355 nurses who voluntarily completed the questionnaires constituted the study sample. Convenience sampling was used to select participants. Since the study was conducted at a single hospital, the survey was emailed to all nurses at the institution to ensure broad accessibility. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships between continuous variables. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to examine factors influencing the scores on the Medical Error Attitude Scale. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained from all participants. The findings were reported following the STROBE guidelines. Results: The mean score of the PES-NWI was 2.60 ± 0.45 and the mean score of the Medical Error Attitude Scale was (3.50 ± 0.39). Regression analysis was performed to identify factors influencing nurses' attitudes towards medical errors. According to the results of the multiple regression analysis, age (p < 0.001), duration of experience in the institution (p < 0.001), educational status (p < 0.001), general satisfaction with patient safety in the unit (p < 0.05) and two subdimensions of the PES-NWI—“Nurse manager ability, leadership and support of nurses” (p < 0.05) and “Staffing and resource adequacy” (p < 0.05)—were significant predictors. These six variables collectively explained 12.8% of the total variance in the Medical Error Attitude Scale score (R² = 12.8%, F = 7.454, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The study concluded that both the nursing practice environment and certain individual and occupational characteristics of nurses impact their attitudes towards medical errors. In line with this study's results, we recommend that institutional managers and nurse managers make necessary arrangements to improve nurses' attitudes towards medical errors, as well as to develop institutional strategies designed to prevent medical errors in their units/institutions, thereby improving patient safety and quality of care. No Patient or Public Contribution: The participants of this study were nurses and this contribution has been explained in the data collection section. There was no patient contribution in this study.