Nursing Healthcare United States Report 2022

Running head: Nursing 1
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
2.0 Literature Search Process.......................................................................................................5
3.0 Literature Review....................................................................................................................6
3.1 Nature and Definition of Stress...........................................................................................6
3.2 Sources of Stress in Nursing profession.............................................................................7
3.3 Stress and medical errors....................................................................................................9
3.4 Impact of medication errors/stress...................................................................................11
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................14
References.....................................................................................................................................15

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Impact of Stress-Related Medical Errors Committed by Registered Nurses
1.0 Introduction
A significant aspect in the area of health is the quality of healthcare services and care offered to
the patients. Patients are the major reasons why hospitals exist and healthcare services are only
centred at them. Any compromise in the quality of care risks patient safety. As much as there is
often healthcare frameworks in the provision of healthcare services to ensure they are safe and
effective, healthcare providers including practising nurses often make mistakes thus endangering
the life of the patients and further reduce the quality of healthcare (Bahrami et al., 2011). A
prevalent matter in the healthcare system in this context is the existence of medical errors which
results to adverse effects and annual death rates and morbidity for the patients, their families and
even the community at large. Multiple studies carried out worldwide have indicated that medical
errors and the consequences are the leading problems affecting the global healthcare system
(Van Bogaert et al., 2014). Other researchers have also shown a high prevalence of 19.5
incidences of medication error for each registered nurse within three months, and 31.6 incidences
within thirty days in the surgical wards (Wu, Zhao, Wang, & Wang, 2010).
The delivery of safe and harmless healthcare services is the major issue experienced by
healthcare practitioners. Registered nurses are intrinsically driven to offer quality healthcare
services due to professional ethics, job-related norms, and the prospects of their performance.
Nevertheless, several factors lead to medication errors due to the complexity of the work and
thus affecting patient safety (Park, & Kim, 2013). In contrast, work-related stress has currently
been reported to be the leading cause of the medical error until it has been classified as a disorder
in the current healthcare system by the United Nations and as prevalent by the World Health
Organization (WHO). Different reports have generally accepted the nursing profession to be a

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stressful job. Several researchers have carried out studies on stressors in nursing (Wu et al.,
2010). The findings of these studies show that nursing profession is stressful because of its heavy
workload, extensive hours at work, night shifts, risk of contact with contagious illnesses, risk of
harm, suffering and pain by the patients and death of patients. Studies have also pointed out other
factors to be working conditions, association with colleagues, dissatisfaction with the leading
nurse, unsupportive management and colleagues, technological advancement, ambiguous roles,
high workload and labour shortage (Wu et al., 2010).
Work-related stress affects both the healthcare providers, patients and their families in a variety
of ways namely emotionally, socially, and physiologically. During stressful times, the brain is
stressed and as a result, there is a decline in concentration and effectiveness in undertaking
responsibilities and an increase in medication errors. As initially indicated, medication errors
affect patient safety and the healthcare provider as well. Most of the studies examining the
impact of medication errors have considered it from the perspective of safety outcomes.
Occupational stress is associated with a lack of motivation or energy and reduced mental
function. Stressed nurses have reduced performance and tend to focus on the most important and
mandatory tasks. Moreover, stress may lead to impaired concentration, the decline in memory,
concentration and executive function that causes memory lapse. Decreased watchfulness and
cognitive function increase the risk of medical errors (Nielsen, Hetland, Matthiesen, &
Einarsen, 2012). Despite the existence of research on the impact of occupational stress on
medication errors, the consequences of medication errors on registered nurses and patients still
need to be revisited owing to their magnitude. The current review seeks to explore further the
impact of stress on medication errors. The study will outline the literature search process namely