Background: A structured error reporting system, has a warning and connecting role in practitioners in patient care. The aim of this study was to investigate the causes of medical errors in voluntary reporting system in hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2014.
Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2014. The population consisted of all the medical staff of hospitals affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Data collection was conducted through review of medical errors reports. After classification, data were analyzed by Excell.
Results: According to the results, during the first 6 months of 2014, 1927 cases of medical errors were reported of which 820 cases were in clinical wards, 550 in Intensive Care Unit, 76 in operating room, 401 in paraclinical wards, and 80 in other parts of the hospital. Furthermore, in terms of repeatability, the highest number of errors had a moderate repeatability and in terms of the severity, the highest number errors were minor.
Conclusion: It is recommended to develop training programs for all employees to report medical errors. Aslo the findings of this study can help in planning for prevention of medical errors.