Atuação de enfermeiras gerentes na ocorrência de incidentes de segurança do paciente

Abstract

Incidents in healthcare refer to unplanned or unexpected events that occur in healthcare settings due to failures in care or administrative processes, errors, among others, and can cause mild, moderate, severe harm, or even death. This study addresses the role of nurse managers of healthcare units in the occurrence of patient safety incidents in teaching hospitals, motivated by the question: What is the role of nurse managers of healthcare units in the occurrence of patient safety incidents? The general objective was to analyze the role of nurse managers of healthcare units in the occurrence of patient safety incidents, and the specific objective was to describe the role of nurse managers of healthcare units in the occurrence of patient safety incidents. This is a field research, exploratory descriptive and qualitative approach study. The field consisted of two large public, tertiary, teaching hospitals that provide medium and high complexity care to SUS (Unified Health System) users. The participants were 23 nurse managers of healthcare units such as wards, intensive care units, day hospitals, and diagnostic support units, who agreed to participate in the study and met the inclusion criteria. Data collection occurred from October to December 2023 in a city in the Northeast of Brazil. Individual interviews were conducted using a semi-structured script, recorded, following the ethical guidelines for research involving human subjects. The information was analyzed using Bardin's thematic content analysis technique, supported by the qualitative analysis software webQDA®. As a result of the analysis, three categories and eight subcategories were identified: Category I - Promotes the reporting of patient safety incidents, with four subcategories: Promotes the culture of reporting, Uses digital technologies for reporting, Respects ethical aspects related to reporting, and Encourages and sensitizes the team to report; Category II - Promotes the investigation process of patient safety incidents, with two subcategories: Initiates the analysis of the patient safety incident and Uses tools for incident analysis; Category III - Develops educational actions and guidance on patient safety incidents, with two subcategories: Develops educational actions for professionals and Provides guidance to patients, families, and caregivers. It was concluded that nurse managers of care units play an active role in the occurrence of patient safety incidents, engaging in the reporting process through the means available and established in the organization, with attitudes of encouragement and sensitization of their team to improve adherence to the process, while considering ethical aspects such as confidentiality and anonymity. Beyond their duties, they are involved in investigating incidents with the relevant departments and use quality tools for incident analysis. They promote educational activities, both formal and informal, for their teams, as well as provide guidance to patients, families, and caregivers on safe care.