Exploring Frequency of Event Reporting as Perceived by Intensive Care Unit Nurses in the Sultanate of Oman: A quality improvement project

OBJECTIVES: Little is known about the factors affecting the perceived frequency of event reporting among healthcare workers, especially registered nurses in Oman. This study aimed to assess whether fatigue, workload, burnout and work environment as independent variables have a relationship with frequency of event reporting as the dependent variable and to what extent the independent variables predict the frequency of event reporting between nurses working in different intensive care units (ICU) in selected hospitals in Oman. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used standardised questionnaires of hospital survey on patient safety culture, a fatigue assessment scale, the Maslach burnout inventory-human services survey, the NASA task load index and the practice environment scale of the nursing work index. Registered nurses working in ICU participated in this study from two referral hospitals in Oman between June and September 2018. RESULTS: A total of 270 nurses were included in this study (response rate: 90%). There was a statistically significant positive relationship between personal accomplishment and the frequency of event reporting (r = 0.132, P <0.05). Regression analysis showed that nurses’ feedback and communication about errors predicted the frequency of event reporting among ICU nurses in Oman (R(2) = 0.214, adjusted R(2) = 0.046; F = 12.82, P <0.01). CONCLUSION: Personal accomplishment and feedback and communication about error of ICU nurses had a positive impact on perceived frequency of event reporting whereas no relationship was found between fatigue, workload, work environment and frequency of event. Strategies need to be in place in health organisations to encourage nurses to report errors.