Critical Incident Disclosing Behaviors and Associated Factors among Nurses Working in Amhara Region Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background. Though the goal of healthcare institutions is patient safety, errors have been committed by healthcare providers. Incident reporting behavior enhances patient safety by reducing the repeated occurrence of errors in the health facility. Therefore, this study aims to identify incident disclosing behaviors and associated factors among nurses working in referral hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. Institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among randomly selected 319 nurses working in referral hospitals of Amhara region from March 1–30, 2019. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. Data were coded and entered into EpiData 4.2 software and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 for analysis. All variables with p value <0.25 during bivariable binary logistic regression analysis were considered for multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Odds ratio along with 95% CI was estimated to measure the strength of the association. Level of statistical significance was declared at p value ≤0.05. Results. The proportion of nurses who reported incidents was 31.9% (95% confidence interval (CI), 27, 3)). Fear of administrative sanctions (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.22, 0.90), fear of legal penalty (AOR = 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14, 0.50), lack of feedback (AOR = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.13, 0.66), nonsupportive environment (AOR = 0.27; 95% CI, 0.14, 0.52), and feel that reporting to colleague is easier (AOR = 2.65; 95% CI, 1.35, 5.20) were all found to be significant factors. Conclusions. The proportion of nurses who reported incidents was low. Fear of administrative sanctions, fear of legal penalty, lack of feedback, nonsupportive environment, and felling that reporting to colleagues was easier are found to be significant factors. Developing a system that encourages critical incident reporting behavior and provide protection from penalties for nurses to report incidents for the enhancement of patient safety and quality of care at each health facility and regional level is crucial.

Patient safety incident reporting behavior and its associated factors among healthcare professionals in Hadiya zone, Ethiopia: A facility based cross-sectional study

“…Respondents who perceived the presence of management support were more likely to report incidents than their counterparts were. This result is congruent with a previous study in the Iran-Jahrom, Pakistan, Addis Ababa and Amhara Regions, Ethiopia ( Y Eshete et al, 2021 ; Agegnehu et al, 2019 ; Badiyepeymaie Jahromi et al, 2014 ; Jafree et al, 2015 ). This might be because nearby follow-ups of managers reduce negligence of staff on their work, which reduces mistakes and motivates staff to report any type of incident occurring in their work area.…”

“…In this study, the overall prevalence of incident reporting behavior was 28.7 % (CI: 24.60, 33.20). This finding was congruent with those previous studies in Addis Ababa public hospital which revealed an incidence reporting behaviour of 30.4 %, Amhara region referral hospitals, 31.9 %, and Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital 25.4 % ( Y Eshete et al, 2021 ; Eshetu hailesslasie, 2017 ; Agegnehu et al, 2019 ). This similarity may indicate the general characteristics of patient safety report behaviors in the country and may be attributed to the fact that similar guidelines are utilized.…”

“…Respondents who feared administrative sanctions were less likely to report than those who did not. This finding was similar to a study in Canada, Korea, Iran-Jahrom, Pakistan, Uganda, the Amhara Region, and Gonder ( Y Eshete et al, 2021 ; Kim and Lee, 2023 ; Skutezky et al, 2022 ; Naome et al, 2020 ; Badiyepeymaie Jahromi et al, 2014 ; Jafree et al, 2015 ). This may necessitate a common understanding of the purpose and goal of incident reporting among the general healthcare community, including hospital administrative bodies.…”

“…Respondents who said there was feedback on errors were more likely to report incidents than their counterparts were. This finding was supported by previous studies in South Australia, South Africa, Addis Ababa and the Amhara Region ( Agegnehu et al, 2019 ; Naome et al, 2020 ; Yeshiambew Eshete et al, 2021 ). This may be because reactions to errors contribute to the improvement of safe patient care practices.…”

Clinical incident reporting behaviors and associated factors among health professionals in Dessie comprehensive specialized hospital, Amhara Region, Ethiopia: a mixed method study

“…Correspondingly, the qualitative finding showed that nearly all respondents mentioned, there is no clinical incident reporting practice in the health institution, and also they did not know any reporting system on clinical incidents. This finding is lower than a study conducted in Egypt, Korea, Iran, and Ethiopia [ 8 , 9 , 17 – 20 ]. The discrepancy might be attributed to the inclusion of different disciplines, blaming in the working environment, lack of confidence in health workers, administrative punishment, and fear.…”