Agnieszka Kister,

Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland

E-mail: agnieszka.kister@

poczta.umcs.lublin.pl

Error monitoring as an organisational innovation in public hospital activity

Abstract. Errors in medical and administrative activities in public hospitals, along with the analysis of the sources of such errors, support the implementation of organisational innovation. The objective of this article is to compare the answers of hospital managerial staff and nursing staff with regard to identifying the reasons for the occurrence of errors as well as the improvements made in medical and non-medical activity. Empirical research seeks to provide insight on the perception of sources of errors in medical and administrative activities and the types of organisational improvements. The questionnaire was addressed to public hospital directors and nurses employed in healthcare institutions over the period of 2017-2018. It provides empirical evidence of slight differences in identification of the error sources from the hospital directors' and nurses' perspectives. The study demonstrates a connection between error occurrence and the implementation of organisational innovations and points to the factors which may facilitate the implementation process of organisational innovations. Last but not least, the findings suggest that it is essential to take into consideration the views of the staff employed by an organisation, in this case – the nurses' opinions.

Received: April, 2019

1st Revision: August, 2019

Accepted: November, 2019

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2019/12-4/13

JEL Classification: B23, M12, D79

Keywords: organisational innovations, healthcare, public hospital, medical errors, administrative errors