Development and Validation of the Inventory of Perceptions of Medication Administration Errors for Nurses in Taiwan

Background: Medication administration errors (MAEs) account for most medication errors, which not only threaten the safety of patients and increase hospital medical costs but also damage the personal and professional development of affected nurses. A feasible instrument measures the perceptions of committing an MAE that may provide support for nurses. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct psychometric testing of the Inventory of Perceptions for Medication Administration Errors (IPMAE). Methods: Psychometric testing of the IPMAE used snowball sampling to collect data from nurse volunteers. Six hundred eighteen nurses completed the IPMAE and a personal profile. The construct validity and the Cronbach's alpha of the inventory were tested. Results: The results indicated that the 12-item IPMAE consisted of four factors, including coping strategy, emotional reaction, fear of blame, and segregation behavior. These four factors accounted for 78.8% of the total variance. The IPMAE showed that both fit indices and Cronbach's alpha coefficients (overall = .90 and subscales = .83-.88) were acceptable. Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The IPMAE is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring perceptions of MAE occurring among nurses. Nursing directors may use the results generated by the IPMAE to help reduce the negative consequences of MAE events among nurses.