ANALYSIS OF THE FACTORS LEADING TO A REDUCTION IN THE RISK OF ERRORS IN NURSING PRACTICE

Healthcare quality is a key topic when discussing the work of nurses, within which the issue of nursing errors and the importance of their prevention arises. Nurses, as part of healthcare teams, are responsible for providing quality healthcare in a variety of work environments. Quality healthcare is essential to ensuring patient safety and protection. This article identifies the factors contributing to the occurrence of errors in nursing practice, in order to prevent the conditions that lead to such errors and to ensure patients safety in hospital settings. An anonymous survey of 117 nurses working in the therapeutic departments of the Hristo Botev Hospital, Vratsa and the First Private Hospital – Vratsa was conducted. The results show that according to half of the surveyed nurses (54.7%) no errors are made in nursing activities, but the proportion of those (40.2%) who are of the opinion that errors are made in the process of work is not small, which indicates the relevance of the problem under study. It was found that with increasing educational level, the proportion of nurses who do not make errors in the process of providing health care also increases (64.5% for bachelor's degree and 68.8% for master's degree). As the main reasons for making errors in medical institutions, 43.6% of the surveyed nurses identify existing problems in the country's healthcare system, and according to 38.5% they are related to the organization of activities in the medical institution. This creates the need to build a systematic approach for qualitative change in the organization of healthcare and create adequate working conditions that guarantee quality and safe patient care.