Who are the professionals working in Patient Safety Centers in Brazil?

Lucas Rodrigo Garcia de Mello. Nurse, PhD Student of the Academic Program in Health Care Sciences (PACCS), Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Researchers and professionals in the field of quality and patient safety conducted an unprecedented survey of 95 professionals in 24 public and private hospitals with Patient Safety Centers located in the southeast, central west, northeast and south regions of Brazil. They found that nurses, especially those with training in intensive care, followed by quality and patient safety, are the professionals who predominantly work in patient safety centers, and that the London Protocol is the most used tool for investigating adverse events.

Through the study entitled “Patient safety centers: profile of human resources in the Brazilian scenario”, researchers highlighted the importance of nurses in the performance of actions related to the investigation of adverse events. Thus, they play a strategic and extremely relevant role not only for the organization, but for the public health system as well, with a mission to ensure patient safety. The aim of this quantitative, cross-sectional, prospective study was to characterize the profile of professionals who work in Patient Safety Centers and analyze if there are variables correlated to the application of tools to investigate adverse events.

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The survey in the 24 hospitals demonstrated that nurses are the predominant professionals in patient safety centers. This highlights the importance of professional training, especially for work in clinical practice, to understand the process of analysis and investigation of adverse events. No strong and significant correlation was found between the quantitative variables that characterize the professionals, the number of protocols applied and courses taken.

Currently, the subject of Patient Safety is widely discussed in health organizations, especially in practices related to risk management such as analysis and investigation of incidents, in which the main objective is to identify contributing factors and care failures, and subsequently implement improvements in the health system. The study was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq (Process: 133103/2019-6).

External Link(s)

Acta Paulista Enfermagem – https://www.scielo.br/ape/

To read the article, access

MELLO, L.R.G, et al. Núcleo segurança do paciente: perfil dos recursos humanos no cenário brasileiro. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem [online]. 2021, vol. 34, eAPE001165 [viewed 13 December 2021]. https://doi.org/10.37689/acta-ape/2021AO001165. Available from: https://www.scielo.br/j/ape/a/WcLB5zFFXG7HdRB5Mstp6wd/