The effect of the clinical nurses' compassion levels on tendency to make medical error: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Compassion is considered the cornerstone of nursing practices and professionalism. However, a decrease in compassion may increase medical errors and adversely affect patient safety. AIMS: The study was conducted to determine clinical nurses' compassion levels and their tendency to make medical errors, and to find whether their compassion levels affect their tendency to make medical errors. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational design was used. The study was conducted with 309 nurses working at a university hospital. The study data were collected by using the Compassion Scale and Medical Error Tendency Scale in Nursing. RESULTS: The nurses' compassion levels were moderate, and their medical error tendency levels were low. The comparison of the mean scores obtained from the Compassion Scale and Medical Error Tendency Scale in Nursing revealed a weak positive significant relationship (p < .001). No statistically significant difference was determined between the mean scores obtained from the Compassion Scale by the participants who made medical errors at least once during their professional life and the mean scores obtained by the participants who did not (p > .05). It was found that the mean score for the mindfulness subscale of the Compassion Scale and the length of service were determined to be the factors that significantly affected the participants' tendency to make medical errors (R = 0.42, R2 = 0.181, F = 3.771, p = .000). CONCLUSION: The nurses' tendency to make medical errors decreased as their compassion levels increased, and that compassion was an important predictor of tendency to make medical errors.

The Effect of Hajj Pilgrimage on Treatment Compliance in Individuals with Chronic Diseases.

This study was performed in order to determine the effect of Hajj pilgrimage on treatment compliance in individuals with chronic diseases. A total of 168 individuals were included in the prospective and descriptive study. Data were collected in three interviews using a patient identification form and the Religiousness Inclination Scale. When the medicine compliances of the individuals before and after Hajj pilgrimage were compared, a statistically meaningful difference between their regular uses of medicine statuses was found (p = 0.011). However, no difference was detected in the 3-month follow-up (p = 0.094). Additionally, it was found that in individuals with internally driven religiousness inclinations there was no relationship between their statuses regarding having changes in their disease-related complaints after Hajj pilgrimage and their status regarding coping with disease. Hajj pilgrimage was found to negatively affect treatment compliance in the short term in individuals with chronic diseases, while there were no changes in long-term treatment compliance.