Error-producing conditions in nursing staff work.

Objective: To analyze the errors made by nursing staff workers who faced ethical-disciplinary actions.

Method: Document, exploratory, quanti-qualitative research. The information was collected in 13 ethical-disciplinary actions of COREN BA, dated from 1995 to 2010, which had as object of complaint an error made by nursing staff workers. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analyzed using the Human Error Theory and Sociology of Work.

Results: Nursing technicians and assistants held most actions. The health institution, through the nursing service coordination, was the predominant complainer and the most frequent shift was daytime.

Final Considerations: The errors made by nursing staff workers demonstrate that error-producing conditions are present in the context of their occurrence in all actions, and understaffing and intensity of work are the most recurrent circumstances.