Nurses’ Perceived Professional Self-Efficacy and Tendency Toward Medical Errors: A Correlational Study

Background: Professional self-efficacy influences nurses’ clinical performance and the safety of care. Examining its relationship with the tendency toward medical errors is essential for informing strategies to improve patient safety.
Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationship between nurses’ perceived professional self-efficacy and their tendency toward medical errors.
Methods: This descriptive and correlational study was conducted with 200 nurses working in a training and research hospital between October 15 and November 5, 2025. Data were collected using the Nurse Descriptive Information Form, the Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Tendency Toward Medical Errors Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, normality testing (skewness and kurtosis), the Mann–Whitney U test, the Kruskal–Wallis test, and Spearman correlation analysis.
Results: Among the participants, 54.5% were female, 83.5% held a bachelor’s degree, and the mean age was 29.62±5.29 years. Nurses demonstrated high levels of professional self-efficacy (68.61±8.97) and low levels of tendency toward medical errors (228.00±19.79). A statistically significant, moderate positive correlation was found between the total scores of the Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale and the Tendency Toward Medical Errors Scale (r=0.454, p<0.001).
Conclusion: The findings indicate that nurses have high perceived professional self-efficacy and a low tendency toward medical errors. A significant, moderate positive relationship was identified between professional self-efficacy and tendency toward medical errors.

*These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.

Keywords: Medical error, nursing, patient safety, self-efficacy