Abstract

FERNANDES, António Manuel Martins Lopes  and  QUEIROS, Paulo Joaquim Pina. Patient Safety Culture as perceived by portuguese nurses in district hospitals. Rev. Enf. Ref. [online]. 2011, vol.serIII, n.4, pp.37-48. ISSN 0874-0283.

Background: the Patient Safety Culture (PSC) is a structural component of the Quality in Health. Nurses, with their beliefs, competencies and characteristics of their performance, have a decisive influence in it. Objectives: to characterize the Patient Safety Culture perceived by nurses in district hospitals. Methodology: quantitative, descriptive-analytical and crossectional study conducted using a questionnaire on PSC. Results: 55.1% of the sample of 136 professionals was under 44 years of age. Four out of twelve factors of the PSC were considered “critical/problematic” and one “strong”. Of the 42 indicators, five had a very good percentage of positive answers (>75%) and fourteen were “critical/problematic”, with a positive percentage of 50%. Only 46% of the nurses considered patient safety in their services “very good” or “excellent”. Participants aged 23-43 had a lower positive percentagwe in nine factors and a higher percentage in one factor. Conclusion: PSC is a critical factor in the Quality of Care, because it presents only one strong factor. These professionals are sceptical, and the youngest ones are less positive in their evaluation. The culture identified is characterized by the paradigm of punishment and concealment of error. Nurses believe that, when an error is notified, they, instead of the action, become the centre of attention.

Keywords : patient safety; patient safety culture; clinical error; adverse events.

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