Factors influencing the patient safety climate in intensive care units: cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Measuring the patient safety climate of a health service provides important information about the safety status at a given time. This study aimed to determine the factors influencing the patient safety climate in Intensive Care Units. METHODS: An analytical and cross-sectional study conducted in 2017 and 2018 in two adult Intensive Care Units of a Brazilian Teaching Hospital. The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire instrument was applied with the multidisciplinary teams to determine the factors influencing the patient safety climate. Data were double entered into a database and processed using the R (version 3.5.0) statistical software. Position, central tendency and dispersion measures were taken and absolute and relative frequencies, mean and confidence intervals were calculated for the quantitative variables. Linear regression was performed to verify the effect of variables on the SAQ domains. Variables with a p-value of less than 0.25 were selected for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: A total of 84 healthcare providers participated in the study. The mean Safety Attitudes Questionnaire score was 59.5, evidencing a negative climate. The following factors influenced the safety climate: time since course completion, professional category, type of employment contract, complementary professional training, and weekly workload. CONCLUSIONS: The factors identified indicate items for planning improvements in communication, teamwork, work processes, and management involvement, aiming to ensure care safety and construct a supportive safety climate.

Potentially inappropriate medications for the elderly: Incidence and impact on mortality in a cohort ten-year follow-up.

INTRODUCTION: Pharmacological therapy plays an important role in disease control in the elderly; unfortunately, this comes with a high prevalence in the use of medications classified as potentially inappropriate. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence, risk factors, and survival of elderly people using potentially inappropriate medications (PIM). METHOD: A ten-year follow-up assessment of elderly participants residing in a capital of Central Brazil was conducted. The initial assessment (baseline) included 418 elderly people. Data were collected through home interviews guided by a questionnaire covering socioeconomic, demographic, living conditions, and health variables. The medication information obtained comprised active ingredient, dosage, route, and regimen for the medications. The PIMs were classified according to 2019 Beers Criteria. The analyses were performed using STATA 15.0. For survival analysis, a Cox Regression was performed with the respective Kaplan Meier curve. RESULTS: The incidence of PIM was 44.1 cases (95% CI: 35.2-54.7) per 1,000 people a year. The most used PIMs were nifedipine, glibenclamide, and sodium diclofenac. The risk factors were polypharmacy (aRR: 3.00; 95% CI: 1.31-6.88) and diabetes mellitus (aRR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.03-2.39). We identified no statistically significant association between survival and the use of PIM. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the high consumption of PIM among the elderly causing polypharmacy risks. Health professionals working in drug treatment need to be alert to polypharmacy risks to ensure the rational use of medications to prevent adverse reactions and other health problems.

[Adherence to the use of the surgical checklist for patient safety]. / Adesão ao uso de um checklist cirúrgico para segurança do paciente.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate adherence to the checklist of the Programa Cirurgias Seguras (safe surgery programme) at a teaching hospital. METHODS: Evaluative study conducted at a teaching hospital in the south of Brazil in 2012. Data were collected by means of non-participant observation in 20 hip and knee replacement surgeries and an instrument that was created for research based on the checklist and used by the institution. RESULTS: In the observed procedures (n=20) there was significant adhesion (p<0.05) to the instrument in relation to the verification of documentation, fasting, hair removal in the surgical site, absence of nail varnish and accessories, identification of the patient and surgical site on admission to the surgical unit, availability of blood and functionality of materials. However, there was no significant adherence to the checklist in the operating room in relation to patient identification, procedure and laterality, team introduction, surgical break and materials count. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the items on the checklist were verified nonverbally and there was no significant adherence to the instrument.