Background & Aim: Administration of medications is an important part of treatment and care provided by nurses. Medication errors can create serious problems to patients and health system. The aim of this study was to determine the reasons of medication errors and the barriers of error reporting from nurses&apos viewpoints.

Methods & Materials: In this study, we randomly selected five hospitals in Tabriz and Maragheh. Then, 200 nurses who were randomly selected for the study completed the study questionnaire. The questionnaire included 21 items about medication errors and 19 items about the barriers of error reporting, based on five degree Likert scale. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS-15.

Results: In this study, from the viewpoint of nurses, the most important reasons of medication errors were hospital units (3.70±0.84), shortages of nursing staff, nuring burn-out and high workload. Regarding barriers of error reporting, the most cited barriers were management factors (3.78±0.89), fear of legal issues, inappropriate definition of medication error and inappropriate reactions of authorities.

Conclusion: We recommend increasing the number of nursing staff, adjusting the workload of nursing staff, using special forms for reporting errors and providing an atmosphere of intimacy between authorities and staffs.

  Background & Aim: The most common types of medical errors are medication errors. Medication errors can cause serious health problems and should be considered a threat to patients' safety. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and types of medication errors and barriers to reporting errors by nurses in an educational hospital in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2012 .

  Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 96 nurses working in an educational hospital were randomly selected to the study. Review of medication errors and reporting them over the last three months were assessed using a valid and reliable questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the SPSS-20. 

  Results: The prevalence of medication errors was 79.2%. The most common errors included giving oral drugs by mistake (53.1%) and medication later or earlier than the stipulated time (41.7%), respectively. Reporting the medication errors was 14%. Among the barriers to reporting the errors, barriers related to administrative issues were more highlighted than the staff relating barriers.

  Conclusion: The results showed high prevalence of medication errors and low rates of error reporting. Holding periodic courses on safe medication and using management strategies to encourage nurses to report errors are recommended.