Social Media Distraction and Medication Error: A Quantitative Patient Safety Analysis in Nursing Practice across Teaching Hospitals in North-Central Nigeria

Medication error remains a persistent and clinically significant patient safety concern within nursing practice, particularly in resource-constrained healthcare systems such as Nigeria, where structural pressures intersect with emerging digital behaviours. In recent years, the increasing penetration of smartphones and social media platforms into clinical environments has introduced a measurable form of cognitive distraction that may compromise attentional stability during medication administration. This study quantitatively examined the relationship between social media distraction and medication error among nurses in selected teaching hospitals across the North-Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria.A cross-sectional survey design was employed, involving 180 registered nurses selected through stratified random sampling from major teaching hospitals, including University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (Gwagwalada), Jos University Teaching Hospital, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Federal Medical Centre Lokoja, Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, and Benue State University Teaching Hospital. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled Social Media Distraction and Medication Error Scale (SMDMES) and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and simple linear regression at a 0.05 level of significance.Findings revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between social media distraction and medication error (r = 0.63, p < 0.05), while regression analysis indicated that social media distraction significantly predicted medication error, accounting for 40% of the variance (R² = 0.40, F = 118.45, p < 0.05). The study concludes that medication error in nursing practice is influenced not only by structural healthcare limitations but also by cognitive fragmentation induced by social media engagement during clinical duties. Strengthening institutional regulation, workload management, and cognitive discipline training is recommended to improve patient safety outcomes.