[Nurse perceptions of patient safety in ICU]. / Seguridad de los pacientes en una UCI.

Patient safety and error prevention have developed as a new dimension in nursing over the last decade. Using qualitative research methods we have been able to identify twenty-five scenarios and activities prone to errors. Participant nurses believed safety could be improved in each one of the scenarios. The riskier activities are related to hand written documentation, drug handling, sign outs, lack off appropriate training, and lack off multidisciplinary meetings. Our paper describes Intensive Care Unit (ICU) safety from the nursing point of view.

[Educational innovation on the practices for the subjects of community nursing, mental health nursing and geriatric nursing]. / Innovación docente en las prácticas de enfermería comunitaria, salud mental y geriatría.

The new European space for higher education requires changes in education manners as well as execution. One of the main challenges is for the students to acquire competence in their professional life. For that purpose they require knowledge, but also skills and a proactive attitude towards learning. In this paper we tell the experience of the Virgen de las Nieves School of Nursing in Granada, with regards to the integration of the practices for the subjects of Community Nursing III, Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, and Geriatric Nursing, which are taken in the third year of the Diplomatura en Enfermería degree. Said practices, which were previously being offered separately within different contexts, will be merged in the same program whose scope will be Primary Care. We believe that the experience has been very positive by looking both at the results and the satisfaction of the students and the professional lecturers. It has been achieved an increase in the number of community care practice hours, and students have managed to acquire more autonomy in their learning and to incorporate critical reasoning in their education. In the methodology used, they have been the main evaluators and protagonists in their learning process, seeking the implication of professionals and teaching tutors in this change. The consensus on the objectives and methods, along with the obstacles which had to be overcome, constitutes one of the most interesting aspects of this experience.

[Problem-based learning, a strategy to employ it]. / Aprendizaje basado en problemas: estrategia de implantación.

The Virgen de las Nieves University School of Nursing has adopted the methodology of Problem-Based Learning (ABP in Spanish acronym) as a supplementary method to gain specific transversal competencies. In so doing, all basic required/obligatory subjects necessary for a degree have been partially affected. With the objective of identifying and administering all the structural and cultural barriers which could impede the success or effectiveness of its adoption, a strategic analysis at the School was carried out. This technique was based on a) knowing the strong and weak points the School has for adopting the Problem-Based Learning methodology; b) describing the structural problems and necessities to carry out this teaching innovation; c) to discover the needs professors have regarding knowledge and skills related to Problem-Based Learning; d) to prepare students by informing them about the characteristics of Problem-Based Learning; e) to evaluate the results obtained by means of professor and student opinions, f) to adopt the improvements identified. The stages followed were: strategic analysis, preparation, pilot program, adoption and evaluation.