Examining the relationship between nurse fatigue, alertness, and medication errors.

Amany Farag; Jacob Gallagher; Lucas Carr

Study

Examining the relationship between nurse fatigue, alertness, and medication errors.

April 3, 2024

Farag A, Gallagher J, Carr L. West J Nurs Res. 2024;46(4):288-295.

View more articles from the same authors.

Healthcare provider fatigue has been associated with adverse events such as medication errors. This study examines the association of fatigue and alertness with medication errors and near misses in hospital nurses. Alertness was continuously measured via a wearable sleep and activity monitor (actigraph), and fatigue was self-reported with ecological momentary assessments via text messages. Nurse fatigue, but not alertness, was associated with self-reported medication errors and near misses.

PubMed citation

Available at

Related Resources From the Same Author(s)

Do leadership style, unit climate, and safety climate contribute to safe medication practices?

March 29, 2017

Examining the relationship among ambulatory surgical settings work environment, nurses' characteristics, and medication errors reporting.

January 27, 2016

Nurses' safety motivation: examining predictors of nurses' willingness to report medication errors.

August 7, 2019

Detecting medication order discrepancies in nursing homes: how RNs and LPNs differ.

October 10, 2015

A mixed methods study examining teamwork shared mental models of interprofessional teams during hospital discharge.

January 8, 2020

Predictors of nursing home nurses' willingness to report medication near-misses.

May 13, 2020

Transparency, public reporting, and a culture of change to quality and safety in cardiac surgery.

November 9, 2022

Missed and delayed diagnoses of non-COVID conditions--collateral harm from a pandemic.

August 5, 2020

Creating a framework to integrate residency program and medical center approaches to quality improvement and patient safety training

January 13, 2021

Analyzing diagnostic errors in the acute setting: a process-driven approach.

October 20, 2021

Diagnosis of physical and mental health conditions in primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study.

October 21, 2020

Evaluating the safety of mental health-related prescribing in UK primary care: a cross-sectional study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

September 15, 2021

Factors affecting medical residents' decisions to work after call.

January 10, 2024

Economic evaluations of interventions to prevent and control health-care-associated infections: a systematic review.

April 26, 2023

Junior doctors' views on reporting concerns about patient safety: a qualitative study.

June 17, 2015

How do nurses use early warning scoring systems to detect and act on patient deterioration to ensure patient safety? A scoping review.

May 29, 2019

Individual and team-based medical error disclosure: dialectical tensions among health care providers.

August 28, 2019

A human factors and survey methodology-based design of a web-based adverse event reporting system for families.

May 5, 2010

A framework for classifying patient safety practices: results from an expert consensus process.

January 30, 2005

Weekend and night outcomes in a statewide trauma system.

April 13, 2011

The problem with root cause analysis.

July 13, 2016

Identification by families of pediatric adverse events and near misses overlooked by health care providers.

January 30, 2005

Developing an action plan for patient radiation safety in adult cardiovascular medicine.

April 11, 2012

Development of the barriers to error disclosure assessment tool.

September 27, 2017

A structured approach to EHR surveillance of diagnostic error in acute care: an exploratory analysis of two institutionally-defined case cohorts.

December 7, 2022

Analysis of deaths related to anesthesia in the period 1996-2004 from closed claims registered by the Danish Patient Insurance Association.

May 30, 2007

Making polypharmacy safer for children with medical complexity.

April 5, 2023

Flexibilization of science, cognitive biases, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

September 23, 2020

Determinants of burnout and other aspects of psychological well-being in healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic: a multinational cross-sectional study.

May 5, 2021

COVID-19: an emerging threat to antibiotic stewardship in the emergency department.

October 21, 2020

Incoming interns recognize inadequate physical examination as a cause of patient harm.

July 15, 2020

Relationship of the nursing practice environment with the quality of care and patients' safety in primary health care.

November 29, 2023

Determining medication errors in an adult intensive care unit.

October 18, 2023

Going to the COVID-19 Gemba: using observation and high reliability strategies to achieve safety in a time of crisis.

June 10, 2020

Influence of burnout on patient safety: systematic review and meta-analysis.

October 23, 2019

The 5th National Audit Project (NAP5) on accidental awareness during general anaesthesia: patient experiences, human factors, sedation, consent and medicolegal issues.

November 12, 2014

Effect of a quality improvement intervention with daily round checklists, goal setting, and clinician prompting on mortality of critically ill patients.

April 20, 2016

Patient safety during sedation by anesthesia professionals during routine upper endoscopy and colonoscopy: an analysis of 1.38 million procedures.

April 20, 2016

5th National Audit Project (NAP5) on accidental awareness during general anaesthesia: protocol, methods, and analysis of data.

September 24, 2014

Effectiveness of different nursing handover styles for ensuring continuity of information in hospitalised patients.

July 23, 2014

A program to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection in acute care.

June 8, 2016

Eliminating central line-associated bloodstream infections: a national patient safety imperative.

January 15, 2014

Making Health Care Safer II: An Updated Critical Analysis of the Evidence for Patient Safety Practices.

March 6, 2013

Waking up the next morning: surgeons' emotional reactions to adverse events.

December 12, 2012

Surgical checklists: a systematic review of impacts and implementation.

September 25, 2013

"First, do no harm": balancing competing priorities in surgical practice.

October 10, 2012

Opioid prescribing decreases after learning of a patient's fatal overdose.

August 22, 2018

Development of a trigger tool to identify adverse events and harm in emergency medical services.

September 20, 2017

Prevalence of potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults living in nursing homes: a systematic review.

August 17, 2016

Effectiveness of pharmacist intervention to reduce medication errors and health-care resources utilization after transitions of care: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

July 19, 2017

Effect of prescriber notifications of patient’s fatal overdose on opioid prescribing at 4 to 12 months: a randomized clinical trial.

January 18, 2023

A failure in the medication delivery system-how disclosure and systems investigation improve patient safety.

January 11, 2023

Transfer of accountability: transforming shift handover to enhance patient safety.

November 22, 2006

Delayed access to care and late presentations in children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a snapshot survey of 4075 paediatricians in the UK and Ireland.

July 29, 2020

First do no harm: practitioners' ability to 'diagnose' system weaknesses and improve safety is a critical initial step in improving care quality.

March 3, 2021

The I-READI quality and safety framework: a health system’s response to airway complications in mechanically ventilated patients with Covid-19.

February 17, 2021

Critical care nurses’ physical and mental health, worksite wellness support, and medical errors.

July 14, 2021

Test-retest reliability of an experienced Global Trigger Tool review team.

October 27, 2021

Chief resident indirect supervision in training safety study: is a chief resident general surgery service safe for patients?

September 1, 2021

The problem with 'My Five Moments for Hand Hygiene'.

August 25, 2021

Defining the landscape of patient harm after osteopathic manipulative treatment: synthesis of an adverse event model.

December 13, 2023

A perfect storm averted: flawed systems, a dropped ball, and cognitive biases delay a critical diagnosis.

November 2, 2022

Effect of pharmacist email alerts on concurrent prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines by prescribers and primary care managers: a randomized clinical trial.

October 26, 2022

Prevalence and sources of duplicate information in the electronic medical record.

October 12, 2022

A quality improvement initiative to improve pediatric discharge medication safety and efficiency.

August 16, 2023

Does seasonal variation in orthopaedic trauma volume correlate with adverse hospital events and burnout?

August 31, 2022

Wake-up call: night shifts adversely affect nurse health and retention, patient and public safety, and costs.

September 20, 2023

Simulating for quality: a centralized quality improvement and patient safety simulation curriculum for residents and fellows.

June 1, 2022

Quality improvement initiative to decrease central line-associated bloodstream infections during the COVID-19 pandemic: a "zero harm" approach.

April 19, 2023

Associations of workflow disruptions in the operating room with surgical outcomes: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.

June 17, 2020

Considering chance in quality and safety performance measures: an analysis of performance reports by boards in English NHS trusts.

January 18, 2017

A decade of health information technology usability challenges and the path forward.

February 13, 2019

Effective followership: a standardized algorithm to resolve clinical conflicts and improve teamwork.

August 12, 2015

Development and validation of a taxonomy of adverse handover events in hospital settings.

February 18, 2015

Association of adverse effects of medical treatment with mortality in the United States: a secondary analysis of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors study.

January 30, 2019

A partially structured postoperative handoff protocol improves communication in 2 mixed surgical intensive care units: findings from the Handoffs and Transitions in Critical Care (HATRICC) prospective cohort study.

February 6, 2019

Economic outcomes associated with safety interventions by a pharmacist–adjudicated prior authorization consult service.

May 29, 2019

The admission conference call: a novel approach to optimizing pediatric emergency department to admitting floor communication.

May 29, 2019

Utilizing information technology to mitigate the handoff risks caused by resident work hour restrictions.

May 26, 2010

Structured communication for patient safety in emergency medical services: a legal case report.

May 19, 2010

The effect of a program to shorten the decision-to-delivery interval for emergent cesarean section on maternal and neonatal outcome.

May 25, 2016

Ward round template: enhancing patient safety on ward rounds.

June 13, 2018

Effect of genetic diagnosis on patients with previously undiagnosed disease.

November 7, 2018

Student perceptions of clinical quality and safety.

November 9, 2016

Alarm fatigue: use of an evidence-based alarm management strategy.

September 14, 2016

A national study links nurses' physical and mental health to medical errors and perceived worksite wellness.

March 21, 2018

Should all duty hours be the same? Results of a national survey of surgical trainees.

July 29, 2009

Peer support and second victim programs for anesthesia professionals involved in stressful or traumatic clinical events.

February 21, 2024

Use of error management theory to quantify and characterize residents' error recovery strategies.

January 15, 2020

Testing alertness of emergency physicians: a novel quantitative measure of alertness and implications for worker and patient care.

January 15, 2020

Apparent cause analysis: a safety tool.

May 20, 2020

Blueprint for restructuring a department of surgery in concert with the health care system during a pandemic: the University of Wisconsin Experience.

May 6, 2020

Reliability evaluation of the adapted National Coordinating Council Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) index.

June 13, 2007

Pharmacist workload and pharmacy characteristics associated with the dispensing of potentially clinically important drug-drug interactions.

May 9, 2007

Managing an acute adverse event in a radiology department.

August 6, 2008

Missed lesions at abdominal oncologic CT: lessons learned from quality assurance.

July 9, 2008

Emergent CSCW systems: the resolution and bandwidth of workplaces.

August 2, 2006

Assessing and supporting late career practitioners: four key questions.

September 30, 2020

Applying thematic synthesis to interpretation and commentary in epidemiological studies: identifying what contributes to successful interventions to promote hand hygiene in patient care.

September 9, 2020

Hastened death due to disease burden and distress that has not received timely, quality palliative care is a medical error.

August 12, 2020

Related Resources

Why do nurses miss nursing care? A qualitative meta-synthesis.

April 24, 2024

Electronic Health Record Modernization Caused Pharmacy-Related Patient Safety Issues Nationally and at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System in Columbus.

April 10, 2024

The association between nurse staffing and quality of care in emergency departments: a systematic review.

March 20, 2024

"Good care is slow enough to be able to pay attention": primary care time scarcity and patient safety.

March 6, 2024

Medication safety gaps in English pediatric inpatient units: an exploration using work domain analysis.

March 6, 2024

Physician and nurse well-being, patient safety and recommendations for interventions: cross-sectional survey in hospitals in six European countries.

February 28, 2024

Association between sleep health and rates of self-reported medical errors in intern physicians: an ancillary analysis of the Intern Health Study.

February 28, 2024

A qualitative study of systems-level factors that affect rural obstetric nurses' work during clinical emergencies.

February 21, 2024

Longer work experience and age associated with safety attitudes in operating room nurses: an online cross-sectional study.

February 7, 2024

The impact of nursing practice environments on patient safety culture in primary health care: a scoping review.

January 31, 2024

Characteristics and patient impact of boarding in the pediatric emergency department, 2018-2022.

January 24, 2024

Nurses' experience with presenteeism and the potential consequences on patient safety: a qualitative study among nurses at out-of-hours emergency primary care facilities.

January 10, 2024

Alarm burden and the nursing care environment: a 213-hospital cross-sectional study.

November 15, 2023

Voices from frontline nurses on care quality and patient safety during COVID-19: an application of the Donabedian Model.

November 1, 2023

WebM&M Cases

Delayed Evaluation of Abdominal Pain in an Elderly Patient.

September 27, 2023

Factors associated with neuroradiologic diagnostic errors at a large tertiary-care academic medical center: a case-control study.

September 20, 2023

WebM&M Cases

Sleep Deprivation Leads to Medication Error During Spinal Epidural Anesthesia.

August 30, 2023

Clinicians' insights on emergency department boarding: an explanatory mixed methods study evaluating patient care and clinician well-being.

August 23, 2023

Healthcare-associated infections in adult intensive care units: a multisource study examining nurses' safety attitudes, quality of care, missed care, and nurse staffing.

August 16, 2023

Missed nursing care in emergency departments: a scoping review.

August 16, 2023

Unpacking the complexity of COVID-19 fatalities: adverse events as contributing factors--a single-center, retrospective analysis of the first two years of the pandemic.

August 16, 2023

Healthcare workers' experiences of patient safety in the intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicentre qualitative study.

July 12, 2023

Patient safety in emergency departments: a problem for health care systems? An international survey.

June 21, 2023

The influence of personality on psychological safety, the presence of stress and chosen professional roles in the healthcare environment.

June 21, 2023

Patient Safety Innovations

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

May 31, 2023

The impact of nursing skill-mix on adverse events in intensive care: a single centre cohort study.

May 31, 2023

Three missed critical nursing care processes on labor and delivery units during the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 31, 2023

Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2023.

May 10, 2023

Nurse staffing and inpatient mortality in the English National Health Service: a retrospective longitudinal study.

May 3, 2023

Fatigue in nurses and medication administration errors: a scoping review.

March 8, 2023

See More About The Topic

Hospitals

Pediatrics

Medical/Surgical Nursing

Critical Care Nursing

Emergency Nursing

Examining the relationship between nurse fatigue, alertness, and medication errors.

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Examining the relationship between nurse fatigue, alertness, and medication errors.

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue Logged In

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue logged in

New Users to the PSNet site