Nursing errors are complex and take place frequently in the care of patients. However, despite their significance, they have not been properly defined or addressed in the literature. This integrative review of the literature explored the concept of nursing error, explained its definitions and described its attributes and measurements. The databases of Medline, CINAHL, Google Scholar and SID were searched using a number of keywords, including malpractice, adverse events and mistake, with and without the word nurse. The aim was to determine the definition of nursing error, regardless of the contextual aspects, in various scientific systems. After reviewing the relevant literature, content analysis (in MAXQDA) was applied to classify the definitions, attributes and measurements obtained on the basis of their similarities and differences. Ultimately, a definition was established for the concept of nursing error.