Link between Occupational Fatigue and Medical Errors in Surgical Technologists

Abstract

Background: Regarding the operating room's sensitivity and performing various invasive procedures, it is important to investigate the relationship between occupational fatigue and the occurrence of medical errors. Thus, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between occupational fatigue and medical errors among surgical technologists.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in operating rooms of hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2019. The research population included 141 surgical technologists selected via stratified random sampling. Data were collected using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and nursing errors in the operating room questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS16 software.

Results: 82.2% of surgical technologists had moderate to severe fatigue. Non-compliance with the sterile technique with a 49.6% incidence rate was the most frequent error among participants. The findings showed that there was a significant positive correlation between the incidence of medical errors among surgical technologists with mental fatigue (r =0.160, P=0.04) and reduced motivation (r =0.185, P=0.02).

Conclusion: The level of mental fatigue and reduced motivation among surgical technologists was directly related to the level of the incidence of medical errors. Therefore, it is recommended to implement effective programs to adjust and decrease mental fatigue and increase motivation to improve surgical technologists' performance.