OBJECTIVE: Nurses and their leaders are known for actively using incident reporting systems. However, information sharing about lessons learned from incidents has rarely been reported in previous studies. This study aimed to describe nurses' and nursing managers' experiences with incident reporting system information sharing and their perceptions of patient safety development needs.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with nursing staff in Estonia (n=26). Collected data was analyzed using the inductive content analysis method. The COREQ checklist was used for study report.

RESULTS: Nursing staff considered information sharing of lessons learned crucial. First, it was necessary to raise patient safety awareness among employees. Second, the importance of learning from mistakes to protect themselves from legal consequences and improve public trust was highlighted. Nursing staff had traditional ways of sharing information about lessons learned. However, because of the lack of organized strategies, nurses resorted to private discussions or self-initiated investigations. Nursing staff reported a need to develop patient safety by supporting nurses' patient safety competencies and training, and to establish the use of a reporting system in daily care. The precondition was a positive patient safety culture, which would be improved by open communication among nursing staff and sufficient resources.

CONCLUSIONS: Information sharing from safety incident reports should rely on organized strategies to avoid self-initiated practices and misinformation. Awareness of the complexity of implementing patient safety initiatives and adequate responsiveness from hospital executives can help establish practices supporting staff to feel secure when discussing safety issues.