Nursing Student Errors and Near Misses: Three Years of Data
Josephine Silvestre, Nancy Spector
Abstract
Background: Understanding the magnitude of errors and near misses in all health care situations is crucial to preventing them from occurring in the future. However, little research is available on the type or extent of nursing student errors in the United States. Method: Nursing student error and near miss data were submitted by more than 200 participating prelicensure nursing programs via a secured online repository. Results: Medication errors represented more than half (58.8%, n = 613) of the total error and near-miss data ( n = 1,042) submitted. Errors and near misses were attributed to students not adhering to three major patient safety procedures: checking the patient's identification, checking the patient's allergy status, and following the rights of medication administration. Conclusion: Results indicate collecting data on nursing students' errors and near misses can help nursing programs identify system issues, promote transparency, and make quality improvements. [ J Nurs Educ . 2023;62(1):12–19.]