Factors Contributing to Medical Errors in Healthcare Facilities in Nigeria: A Survey of Healthcare Stakeholder?s Perspectives

摘要

The safety and survival of patients in healthcare facilities is among the key priorities of national healthcare system. This noble priority is undermined by the increasing rates of medical errors in the healthcare facilities. This study aimed to identify the factors contributing to medical errors in healthcare facilities in Nigeria. The study utilized a descriptive research design. The sample for the study consisted of 1200 healthcare stakeholders selected from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The six geopolitical zones constitute six clusters (cluster sampling techniques). Simple random technique by balloting was used to select four healthcare facilities from each of the sampled geopolitical zones. This resulted to 24 healthcare facilities. A total of 50 healthcare stakeholders were selected from each of the 24 healthcare facilities using simple random technique. Overall, a total of 1,200 healthcare stakeholders were used for the study. The study showed that majority of the healthcare stakeholders were females (61.7%) were between 31-50 years (46%) had degree as their highest educational qualifications (54.1%), married (64.2%) and were healthcare providers (47%). Available data also indicated that the factors contributing to medical errors in healthcare facilities in Nigeria were: long working hours (82.5%), personal attitude (81.7%), quackery and ignorance (79.2%) leadership style and management (77.5%) number of patients/type of illness (75.8%) and excess workload (70.8%), respectively. Medical errors in healthcare facilities in Nigeria are influenced by some factors such as: long working hours personal attitude quackery and ignorance leadership style and management number of patients/type of illness and excess workload, respectively. The understanding of these factors would be crucial in reducing mortality and morbidity rates accruing from the errors and ensuring patient safety.