The study had as objectives to verify the professional conduct and feelings of nurses from Emergency Department when they are faced with an adverse event related to medication therapy and to verify its associations with such factors as age, time of completion of college degree, time of experience in the field and previous history with this type of event. The sample was composed of 116 nurses working in various general hospitals in the municipality of Sao Paulo who answered a questionnaire about a fictitious situation related with a medication error. The results revealed the following conducts in order of priority: communicate the physician (69,8%), intensify patient care (55,1%) and make proper annotations in the patient's chart. The most prevailing affective manifestation was to worry (79,3%), followed by impotence and rage (22,4% each) and insecurity (22,4%). The variable analysis showed a relationship between the professional conduct and the time of completion of college degree, while the feelings were related to age and previous experience with this type of event.
Medication errors; Emergency service, hospital; Nursing
