Venous blood specimen collection is an important practical task that results in an analysis response that often leads to a clinical decision. Errors due to inaccurate venous blood specimen collection are frequently reported and can jeopardize patient safety because inaccurate specimens may result in a delayed or incorrect diagnosis and treatment. However, few healthcare personnel have written an error report regarding venous blood specimen collection practices. The aim of this study is to describe the experiences of healthcare personnel with incident reporting of venous blood specimen collection practices in primary health care. Our study is based on 30 individual interviews with healthcare personnel from 10 primary health care centres. Data were analysed using qualitative content analyses. Personnel experiences of incident reporting were summarized in three categories; Uncertainties in the planning and organization, High workload and low priority and, A need for support and guidance. More specifically, barriers hinder personnel in reporting mistakes. An interpretation based on the results is that surrounding circumstances within the organization influence whether personnel report mistakes or not. The result indicates a need for parallel systems, to identify and report errors or near-misses to prevent mistakes. Processed incidents should be returned promptly to the personnel to use as a learning experience. Having a valid questionnaire and a key person to write an incident report, might reduce the burden on the health care staff and increase the numbers of incident reports and patient safety.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.