Elderly patient safety in the hospital environment: an integrative literature review

Abstract

Goal: to identify studies published in national and international scientific journals on the safety of elderly patients in the hospital environment. Method: this is an integrative literature review, carried out in May 2021, with a search for publications in the databases SCOPUS, PUBMED, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), Web Of Science, between the years 2010 and 2020, in the languages Portuguese, English and Spanish, with the descriptors "elderly", "hospital medicine", "patient safety". Results: 38 articles were part of the review corpus, which were categorized into four themes: Adverse drug reactions in geriatric patients; Elderly medication management; Safety of the geriatric surgical patient; Risk of falls in the elderly. Final considerations: The studies showed the need to establish guidance for professionals working in the hospital environment on the safety of elderly patients, in order to reduce adverse events and ensure a better quality of care provided. Added to this fact, it was found that the adoption of technologies contributes to prevention, risk reduction and governance in elderly care.