TITLE:
Knowledge, Attitude and Barriers of Nurses to Incident Reporting in Al Dhafra Hospitals, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
AUTHORS:
Shakkeela Anilkumar, Azmi Omar Al Horani, Mohammed Yousef Alkhraishi
KEYWORDS:
Attitude, Barriers, Incident, Knowledge, Nurses
JOURNAL NAME:
Voice of the Publisher,
Vol.11 No.1,
March
6,
2025
ABSTRACT: Background: An incident in the health care system is unplanned and unfavourable which may be harmful or may cause potential harm to the patients, caregivers, and other individuals. Any risks in healthcare organizations can be detected by identifying and reporting incidents in a timely manner. Hospitals must ensure the delivery of safe and quality care through a proactive and patient-centered approach. Aim: The objective of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and barriers to reporting incidents by the nurses working in Al Dhafra Hospitals. Methodology: A descriptive design was employed and the tool included four parts: a demographic outline, a self-structured questionnaire to evaluate the knowledge, a Likert scale to check the attitude, and a checklist to evaluate the perceived barriers. 168 nurses working in Al Dhafra Hospitals participated in the study. Result: 99.8% of nurses know what incident reporting is, and 92.9% of nurses agree that every incident is to be reported. Lack of time has been claimed by 69% of nurses as the major barrier to reporting incidents. While 56% of nurses report fear of legal action as a barrier,49.4% of nurses agree that fear of career and personal reputation is the common barrier for incident reporting. Conclusion: The incident-reporting system plays a critical role in fostering a safe health care environment. Developing and sustaining a non-punitive culture towards incident reporting encourages transparency, supports staff and ultimately leads to improved patient care and outcomes.