Nursing Contributions on Patient Safety in Medical Clinics: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Abstract

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the contribution of nurses to the area of knowledge of patient safety in clinical medicine and to identify, in the current literature, articles that contain writings by nurses on this topic. This is an integrative literature review, using the PICO strategy and with the guiding question "How do nurses contribute to patient safety in medical clinics"? Using the descriptors nursing / nurse / nurse, Patient safety and medical clinic, 16 studies were selected for analysis in the study. As categories for analyzing the articles, the six International Safety Goals were used: (1) Identify patients correctly; (2) Improve the effectiveness of communication between care professionals, ensuring standardized information and efficient communication between the health team; (3) Improve the safety of high-alert medications through careful and protocol administration of medications; (4) Ensuring surgeries with correct intervention site, correct procedure and correct patient; (5) Reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections, primarily through prevention with proper handwashing ; and (6) Reduce the risk of injury to patients from falls. However, the study makes evident the need for improvements in practices to achieve the goals, and it is essential to devise strategies with a specific focus on patient safety. It is also evident, in the work in question, that adherence to the proposed techniques is hampered by the time to perform the care, the degree of dependence of the patients, the excessive volume of work and the reduced number of nurses to provide care; and the lack of knowledge of risk factors for patient safety.