Strategies for an Effective Safety Culture and Prevent Errors in Nursing: Literature Review

Abstract

Introduction and objective: safety culture is increasingly linked to the quality of care, being crucial for the prevention of errors in health. It is intended to identify which strategies for an effective safety culture and to prevent errors in Nursing. Methodology: Review of the literature. The study includes the analysis of articles found in: CINAHL, MEDLINE, Nursing & Allied Health Collection, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, B-ON e SCIELO. Sample consists of 12 articles. Results: Teamwork and communication were referred in 75% of the studies as key measures; 66.7% reinforce the importance of notification of errors; 58.3% argue that the training/continuous improvement is essential; 33.3% consider the global perception of safety and the importance of trust in leaders as effective methods; 25% alert to the importance of the feedback of errors to health professionals. Conclusion: Teamwork and communication were identified as the most significant strategies, following the notification of errors and training/continuous improvement. In the analyzed articles was identified a direct relationship of the existence of a safety culture with the reduction of adverse events in health care and the need to make the system more secure, instead of trying to change the human condition.

Safety culture in the context of operating room: Nurses' perception regarding notification of errors/adverse events

“…These data have proven to be quite satisfactory, being the feedback to professionals who are at the forefront of health care alone, an important strategy for an effective safety culture. [4,15,27] The fact that the entire sample reported not having received any punishment for the error was shown to be quite positive, and complies with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, [9] since, building a non-punitive environment and developing nurse's initiative to report adverse events voluntarily is necessary. [14] Regarding the underreporting of the error, most participants associated this fact with lack of time, however, in the literature consulted there was no correlation between both variables.…”

“…It should be noted that the safety principles in this service have the potential to improve the existing safety culture, so that continuous training is crucial as an important means to avoid adverse health events. [4,27]…”

“…[17] 2.4 Settings Based on the objectives of the study, the data collection instrument "Nurses' Perception of Error Notification" was based on the study objectives, on the results of a study carried out in Portugal on a similar population [18] and a review of the literature. [4] Thus, for the purpose of obtaining quantitative information, the questionnaire survey was used with a confidential and anonymous nature, since some of the questions were sensitive and could give rise to some discomfort on the part of the respondents in their daily professional practice or in some way prejudice their fundamental rights. Therefore, in order to guarantee the anonymity and confidentiality of the participants, we do not mention their names, so the questionnaire does not present identification, it is anonymous and voluntary.…”

“…[1] Errors/adverse events are one of the major causes of mor-bidity and mortality worldwide, and may also increase hospitalization time, care costs and legal charges, [2,3] and its notification is one of the most important strategies to achieve an effective safety culture. [4] Safety culture is a desirable asset and is characterized by the sum of values, experiences, attitudes and practices that guide the behaviour of a group. [5] In Portugal, the available data on errors/adverse events are scarce.…”

Error monitoring as an organisational innovation in public hospital activity

“…The authors analysed the results of 12 articles. Teamwork and communication were found to be cited as key measures in 75% of the studies; 66.7% reinforces the importance of error reporting; 58.3% says training/permanent improvement is necessary; 33.3% takes into account global perceptions of safety and the importance of trust in leaders as an effective method; 25% points to the importance of error feedback for health professionals (Vinagre & Marques, 2018). These are similar research results, although they concern only one professional group -nurses.…”