Exploring the influence of nurses’ demographics and hospital work environment on medical error reporting practices in Jordan: a cross-sectional study

ObjectiveNurses have a significant role in maintaining patient and healthcare safety. Thus, healthcare administrators should focus on nurse performance and create a friendly hospital work environment to ensure patient safety and healthcare quality. Limited studies have investigated the impact of nurses’ demographics on nurses’ error reporting practices and nurses’ perceptions of the hospital work environment, especially in Jordan. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing nurses’ medical error reporting practices in Jordan, specifically focusing on the role of nurses’ demographics and the hospital work environment. Design: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study.SettingData collection was done in three hospitals (public, university-affiliated and private) in Jordan, using surveys that included demographics, the incident reporting practice scale and the Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index from 11 June 2023 to 13 August 2023.Participants350 nurses with a diploma, associate degree, bachelor’s degree or postgraduate degree had worked at the targeted hospitals for at least 6 months and were responsible for direct inpatient care.Primary outcome measureThe level of medical error reporting practices and the nursing work environment. Also, differences were assessed among demographic characteristics and investigated the factors for medical error reporting practices.ResultsJordanian nurses had low medical error reporting practices (M=2.34; SD=0.57) and nursing work environment (M=2.4; SD=0.56). Nurses who were single and in private hospitals had higher medical error reporting practices (p