Abstract
Purpose
Effective and efficient medication reporting processes are essential in promoting patient safety. Few qualitative studies have explored reporting of medication errors by health professionals, and none have made reference to behavioural theories. The objective was to describe and understand the behavioural determinants of health professional reporting of medication errors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Methods
This was a qualitative study comprising face-to-face, semi-structured interviews within three major medical/surgical hospitals of Abu Dhabi, the UAE. Health professionals were sampled purposively in strata of profession and years of experience. The semi-structured interview schedule focused on behavioural determinants around medication error reporting, facilitators, barriers and experiences. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF; a framework of theories of behaviour change) was used as a coding framework. Ethical approval was obtained from a UK university and all participating hospital ethics committees.
Results
Data saturation was achieved after interviewing ten nurses, ten pharmacists and nine physicians. Whilst it appeared that patient safety and organisational improvement goals and intentions were behavioural determinants which facilitated reporting, there were key determinants which deterred reporting. These included the beliefs of the consequences of reporting (lack of any feedback following reporting and impacting professional reputation, relationships and career progression), emotions (fear and worry) and issues related to the environmental context (time taken to report).
Conclusion
These key behavioural determinants which negatively impact error reporting can facilitate the development of an intervention, centring on organisational safety and reporting culture, to enhance reporting effectiveness and efficiency.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the following for their contribution and support provided throughout this research: Embassy of the United Arab Emirates for funding Mai Alqubaisi; Katie MacLure, Gordon Rushworth, Cristin Ryan, and Anne Watson for reviewing the draught interview schedule; the ethical review panels and Human Resources Departments of all participating hospitals; and all interviewees.
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Mai Alqubaisi, Antonella Tonna, Alison Strath, and Derek Stewart declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Funding
Funding for Mai Alqubaisi’s doctoral studies was provided by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates.
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Alqubaisi, M., Tonna, A., Strath, A. et al. Exploring behavioural determinants relating to health professional reporting of medication errors: a qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 72, 887–895 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-016-2054-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-016-2054-9