Common Medical Errors in Gastroenterology: A Mixed Method Study

Introduction:Medical mistakes cause injury to patients and raise the expenses of treatment and hospital stays. The current study aimed to identify medical errors in the field of gastroenterology and propose a prevention strategy. Materials and Methods:The study was carried out through a mixed method (quantitative, qualitative) in a sequential manner. In the first stage (quantitative), common errors in the department were identified. In the second stage (qualitative stage), data gathering was done by interviewing nurses and doctors. The collected data was analyzed using content analysis method and error prevention strategies were identified. Results:The mean (standard deviation) score of patients in the departments were 66.28 (98.7), and the mean number of nurses was 4.83 (26.3). It was found that the most medical errors were not serious, and the most errors in drug registration were drug card registration (42.9%), drug preparation (38.1%), and drug prescription (33.3%). Medical errors resulting in severe complications due to incorrect patient identification accounted for 2% of the total errors. The suggested prevention strategies included: adjusting department supervision processes, ensuring proper training, enhancing patient education, and developing a culture of error reporting. Conclusion:The study’s findings revealed a high frequency of errors that were largely benign and identified before they occurred. Nevertheless, given their potential to inflict harm, it is essential to implement effective error detection and reporting system.