El peor enemigo de la enfermera es / The nurse's worst enemy is

Mucho se comenta en los hospitales como dicho, tal vez sin sentido, que el peor enemigo de una enfermera es otra enfermera; sin embargo, es necesario hacer una reflexión, e incluso un análisis concienzudo, sobre estas palabras ya que descontextualizan el verdadero quehacer y objetivo de la enfermería. Personalmente, considero que no es así. En primera instancia porque una persona preparada en las ciencias de la enfermería no podría considerar válida esta creencia, ya que la esencia y los valores de la enfermera dista en demasía de la palabra enemigo. El peor enemigo de la enfermera es la falta de conocimiento, ya que, al permanecer con una actitud pasiva ante los avances científicos, no dimensionamos la importancia de estar en constante entrenamiento, para que el ejercicio de nuestra profesión se lleve a cabo con los más altos estándares de calidad, tanto académica como de cuidado enfermero, con el único objetivo de reestablecer la salud de las personas. El peor enemigo de la enfermera es la falta de conocimiento, pues no se debe ejercer la enfermería basada en ocurrencias, no se debe ejercer la enfermería basada en falsas eminencias, en negligencias, en complacencias y, sobre todo, la enfermería basada en el desconocimiento. El peor enemigo de la enfermera es la falta de conocimiento, dado que al desconocer de los procesos tanto fisiológicos como patológicos, no sabremos tomar decisiones basadas en la ciencia y, por consiguiente, esas decisiones repercuten en la salud y la vida de las personas.

Much is said in hospitals as a saying, perhaps without meaning, that the worst enemy of a nurse is another nurse; however, it is necessary to make a reflection, and even a conscientious analysis, on these words since they decontextualize the true task and objective of nursing. Personally, I consider that it is not so. In the first instance, because a person trained in nursing sciences could not consider this belief valid, since the essence and values of the nurse are too far from the word enemy. The worst enemy of the nurse is the lack of knowledge, since, by remaining passive in the face of scientific advances, we do not appreciate the importance of being in constant training, so that the exercise of our profession is carried out with the most high-quality standards, both academic and nursing care, with the sole objective of restoring people's health. The worst enemy of the nurse is the lack of knowledge because nursing based on occurrences should not be practiced, nursing based on false eminences, negligence, complacency and, above all, nursing based on ignorance should not be practiced. The worst enemy of the nurse is the lack of knowledge, given that by being unaware of both physiological and pathological processes, we will not know how to make decisions based on science and, consequently, these decisions have an impact on people's health and lives.

Contribuições do profissional de psicologia para o paciente em cuidados paliativos / Contributions of the psychology professional to the patient in palliative care / Aportaciones del profesional de la psicología para el paciente en cuidados paliativos

Os cuidados paliativos englobam uma filosofia de cuidados que objetivam a promoção da qualidade de vida e alívio do sofrimento, tanto para o paciente fora de possibilidades de cura quanto aos seus familiares, de modo que possa integrar aspectos de ordem física, psíquica, social e espiritual. O presente artigo buscou, a partir do estudo de revisão bibliográfica, compreender o processo da morte e sua implicância psíquica na vida do paciente em cuidados paliativos para, posteriormente, elencar as possíveis contribuições do profissional de psicologia ao mesmo. Observou-se que a atuação do psicólogo nesse âmbito é de imensa importância, uma vez que o processo de adoecer e morrer permeiam a vida do ser humano, causando-lhe grande sofrimento. Percebeu-se também que as ações do psicólogo se dão no sentido de tornar a morte e seus impactos mais suportáveis, por meio da escuta, do acolhimento emocional, dentre outros aspectos importantes que se referem à sua natureza científica.

Palliative care encompasses a philosophy of care aimed at promoting quality of life and alleviating suffering, both for the patient with no chance of cure and for their family members, so that they can integrate physical, psychic, social and spiritual aspects. The present article sought, from the study of literature review, to understand the process of death and its psychic implications in the life of the patient in palliative care to, later, list the possible contributions of the psychology professional to it. It was observed that the role of the psychologist in this context is of immense importance, since the process of falling ill and dying permeates the life of human beings, causing them great suffering. It was also noticed that the psychologist's actions take place in the sense of making death and its impacts more bearable, through listening, emotional reception, among other important aspects that refer to its scientific nature.

Los cuidados paliativos engloban una filosofía de atención que tiene como objetivo promover la calidad de vida y el alivio del sufrimiento, tanto para el paciente fuera de las posibilidades de curación como para sus familiares, de modo que puede integrar aspectos de orden físico, psicológico, social y espiritual. El presente artículo buscó, a partir del estudio de revisión bibliográfica, comprender el proceso de la muerte y su implicación psíquica en la vida del paciente en cuidados paliativos para, posteriormente, enumerar las posibles aportaciones del profesional de la psicología al mismo. Se observó que la actuación del psicólogo en esta área es de inmensa importancia, ya que el proceso de enfermar y morir impregna la vida del ser humano, causándole un gran sufrimiento. También se dio cuenta de que las acciones del psicólogo se dan con el fin de hacer más llevadera la muerte y sus impactos, a través de la escucha, el apoyo emocional, entre otros aspectos importantes que se refieren a su carácter científico.

Identification and characterisation of potential drug interaction in a Hospital in Jundiai, Sao Paulo State

Abstract To identify and characterize the most frequent Drug Interaction (DI) in a Jundiaí Hospital. Exploratory, descriptive, and analytical cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. The source of the study is 100 prescriptions made by the medical service of a hospital in Jundiaí, dispensed from August to October 2018, by the pharmacy of the mentioned hospital for palliative care, mental health, and emergency care. Data plotting in Excel. Of the 100 prescriptions analyzed 60 had at least one type of interaction, 164 DI were found, 14.6% severe, 67.7% moderate, 17.1% minor and 0.6% unspecified. The mechanism of interaction that most appeared in the study was pharmacodynamics, 54.3%, pharmacokinetics were present in 34.1% of DI and 11.6% were not specified. The group most affected by DI was male 33% of prescriptions, female 27%, and 40% showed no interactions. The age group with the most interactions was from 50 to 59 years old. Of the prescriptions that had MI, those with 4 or more interactions were the ones that prevailed. The class of drugs that presented the most interactions was psychotropic drugs. A relevant frequency of interactions was identified by the present study, being the class of psychotropic drugs the most evident and interactions of medium severity the most found, which may be responsible for lowering the clinical condition of patients and the need of possible additional interventions. The data presented may contribute as epidemiological indicators, guiding corrective actions, aiming at the welfare of patients

Ethik First - extracurricular support for medical students and young physicians facing moral dilemmas in hospital routine.

Introduction: Moral value conflicts play an increasingly central role in everyday hospital life. Clinical ethics, however, is only marginally represented in the compulsory curriculum for human medicine and the additional education regulations. The aim of the Ethik First project at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel is to close this gap with an extracurricular offer and to support medical students from the fifth clinical semester onward and during their practical year as well as assistant doctors in dealing with moral dilemmas in everyday hospital life. The project has taken the concomitant learning objectives from the national competency-based learning objective catalog for medicine. According to the target group, the address in particular, showed higher taxonomy levels. Project description: The multimodal concept is based on three pillars: In monthly principle-based case conferences, participants practice ethical reflection and moral judgment primarily on the basis of concrete cases introduced by them using the methods of problem-based learning and consideration-based deliberation. If participants do not bring forth a case, they discuss ethical aspects of current political relevance. Moreover, there is an annual public speaker event. Results: Since the project began in 2017, ~20 students and interns have taken part in Ethik First one or more times. In a web-based interim evaluation (N=13), all respondents fully agreed that they considered the format helpful for dealing with ethical questions at the clinic. They rated the relevance for their later profession as high. There is evidence for support in moral dilemma situations. Discussion: The first evaluation results of the voluntary extracurricular offer show the acceptance of the selected format, which goes beyond pure teaching in its conception in that it addresses moral stress as well and strengthens the participants' individual resilience. Conclusion: Ethik First reinforces the role of ethical aspects in the training of (prospective) doctors and focuses on reflecting on cases they have experienced firsthand. We formulate a desideratum for appropriate advanced training concepts both in medical studies and in advanced medical training such that the training and development of comparable projects at medical faculties and at medical associations with student participation can be discussed.

Respectful maternal and newborn care: measurement in one EN-BIRTH study hospital in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Respectful maternal and newborn care (RMNC) is an important component of high-quality care but progress is impeded by critical measurement gaps for women and newborns. The Every Newborn Birth Indicators Research Tracking in Hospitals (EN-BIRTH) study was an observational study with mixed methods assessing measurement validity for coverage and quality of maternal and newborn indicators. This paper reports results regarding the measurement of respectful care for women and newborns. METHODS: At one EN-BIRTH study site in Pokhara, Nepal, we included additional questions during exit-survey interviews with women about their experiences (July 2017-July 2018). The questionnaire was based on seven mistreatment typologies: Physical; Sexual; or Verbal abuse; Stigma/discrimination; Failure to meet professional standards of care; Poor rapport between women and providers; and Health care denied due to inability to pay. We calculated associations between these typologies and potential determinants of health - ethnicity, age, sex, mode of birth - as possible predictors for reporting poor care. RESULTS: Among 4296 women interviewed, none reported physical, sexual, or verbal abuse. 15.7% of women were dissatisfied with privacy, and 13.0% of women reported their birth experience did not meet their religious and cultural needs. In descriptive analysis, adjusted odds ratios and multivariate analysis showed primiparous women were less likely to report respectful care (ß = 0.23, p-value < 0.0001). Women from Madeshi (a disadvantaged ethnic group) were more likely to report poor care (ß = - 0.34; p-value 0.037) than women identifying as Chettri/Brahmin. Women who had caesarean section were less likely to report poor care during childbirth (ß = - 0.42; p-value < 0.0001) than women with a vaginal birth. However, babies born by caesarean had a 98% decrease in the odds (aOR = 0.02, 95% CI, 0.01-0.05) of receiving skin-to-skin contact than those with vaginal births. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of respectful care at exit interview after hospital birth is challenging, and women generally reported 100% respectful care for themselves and their baby. Specific questions, with stratification by mode of birth, women's age and ethnicity, are important to identify those mistreated during care and to prioritise action. More research is needed to develop evidence-based measures to track experience of care, including zero separation for the mother-newborn pair, and to improve monitoring.

Mistrust and inconsistency during COVID-19: considerations for resource allocation guidelines that prioritise healthcare workers.

As the USA contends with another surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitals may soon need to answer the unresolved question of who lives and dies when ventilator demand exceeds supply. Although most triage policies in the USA have seemingly converged on the use of clinical need and benefit as primary criteria for prioritisation, significant differences exist between institutions in how to assign priority to patients with identical medical prognoses: the so-called 'tie-breaker' situations. In particular, one's status as a frontline healthcare worker (HCW) has been a proposed criterion for prioritisation in the event of a tie. This article outlines two major grounds for reconsidering HCW prioritisation. The first recognises trust as an indispensable element of clinical care and mistrust as a hindrance to any public health strategy against the virus, thus raising concerns about the outward appearance of favouritism. The second considers the ways in which proponents of HCW prioritisation deviate from the very 'ethics frameworks' that often preface triage policies and serve to guide resource allocation-a rhetorical strategy that may undermine the very ethical foundations on which triage policies stand. By appealing to trust and consistency, we re-examine existing arguments in favour of HCW prioritisation and provide a more tenable justification for adjudicating on tie-breaker events during crisis standards of care.

Public Attitudes Regarding Hospitals and Physicians Encouraging Donations From Grateful Patients.

Importance: Philanthropy is an increasingly important source of support for health care institutions. There is little empirical evidence to inform ethical guidelines. Objective: To assess public attitudes regarding specific practices used by health care institutions to encourage philanthropic donations from grateful patients. Design, Setting, and Participants: Using the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, a probability-based sample representative of the US population, a survey solicited opinions from a primary cohort representing the general population and 3 supplemental cohorts (with high income, cancer, and with heart disease, respectively). Exposures: Web-based questionnaire. Main Outcomes and Measures: Descriptive analyses (with percentages weighted to make the sample demographically representative of the US population) evaluated respondents' attitudes regarding the acceptability of strategies hospitals may use to identify, solicit, and thank donors; perceptions of the effect of physicians discussing donations with their patients; and opinions regarding gift use and stewardship. Results: Of 831 individuals targeted for the general population sample, 513 (62%) completed surveys, of whom 246 (48.0%) were women and 345 (67.3%) non-Hispanic white. In the weighted sample, 47.0% (95% CI, 42.3%-51.7%) responded that physicians giving patient names to hospital fundraising staff after asking patients' permission was definitely or probably acceptable; 8.5% (95% CI, 5.7%-11.2%) endorsed referring without asking permission. Of the participants, 79.5% (95% CI, 75.6%-83.4%) reported it acceptable for physicians to talk to patients about donating if patients have brought it up; 14.2% (95% CI, 10.9%-17.6%) reported it acceptable when patients have not brought it up; 9.9% (95% CI, 7.1%-12.8%) accepted hospital development staff performing wealth screening using publicly available data to identify patients capable of large donations. Of the participants, 83.2% (95% CI, 79.5%-86.9%) agreed that physicians talking with their patients about donating may interfere with the patient-physician relationship. For a hypothetical patient who donated $1 million, 50.1% (95% CI, 45.4%-54.7%) indicated it would be acceptable for the hospital to show thanks by providing nicer hospital rooms, 26.0% (95% CI, 21.9%-30.1%) by providing expedited appointments, and 19.8% (95% CI, 16.1%-23.5%) by providing physicians' cell phone numbers. Conclusions and Relevance: In this survey study of participants drawn from the general US population, a substantial proportion did not endorse legally allowable approaches for identifying, engaging, and thanking patient-donors.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Bioethical Analysis of Healthcare Professionals' and Healthcare Institutions' Moral Obligations During Active Shooter Incidents in Hospitals - A Narrative Review of the Literature.

Active shooter incidents (ASI) have unfortunately become a common occurrence the world over. There is no country, city, or venue that is safe from these tragedies, and healthcare institutions are no exception. Healthcare facilities have been the targets of active shooters over the last several decades, with increasing incidents occurring over the last decade. People who work in healthcare have a professional and moral obligation to help patients. As concerns about the possibility of such incidents increase, how should healthcare institutions and healthcare professionals understand their responsibilities in preparation for and during ASI?

Ethical allocation of scarce health care resources in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. / Asignación ética de recursos sanitarios escasos en el contexto de crisis por COVID-19.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to overwhelm the capacity of hospitals and Intensive Care Units in Chile and Latin America. Thus local authorities have an ethical obligation to be prepared by implementing pertinent measures to prevent a situation of rationing of scarce healthcare resources, and by defining ethically acceptable and socially legitimate criteria for the allocation of these resources. This paper responds to recent ethical guidelines issued by a Chilean academic institution and discusses the main moral principles for the ethical foundations of criteria for rationing during the present crisis. It argues that under exceptional circumstances such as the current pandemic, the traditional patient-centered morality of medicine needs to be balanced with ethical principles formulated from a public health perspective, including the principles of social utility, social justice and equity, among others. The paper concludes with some recommendations regarding how to reach an agreement about rationing criteria and about their implementation in clinical practice.

La actual pandemia por COVID-19 tiene el potencial de sobrepasar la capacidad de hospitales y unidades de cuidados intensivos en Chile y América Latina. Por lo tanto, las autoridades locales tienen la obligación ética de estar preparadas mediante la implementación de medidas tendientes a evitar una situación de racionamiento de recursos sanitarios escasos, y a través de la definición de criterios éticamente aceptables y socialmente legítimos para la asignación de estos recursos. Este artículo presenta una respuesta a orientaciones éticas recientes emitidas por una institución académica chilena y analiza los principios éticos relevantes para la fundamentación ética de criterios de racionamiento. Se argumenta que, frente a circunstancias excepcionales como la actual pandemia, la moral centrada en el paciente de la medicina tradicional necesita ser ponderada con principios éticos formulados desde una perspectiva de salud pública, incluyendo los principios de utilidad social, justicia social y equidad, entre otros. Se concluye con algunas recomendaciones sobre cómo llegar a acuerdo sobre criterios de racionamiento y sobre la implementación de estos en la práctica clínica.

Using Signs and Symbols to Label Hospital Patients with a Dementia Diagnosis: Help or Hindrance to Care?

Signs and symbols may be used in attempts to direct attention to particular aspects of patient care and hence affect how the patient is seen. An ethnography within five hospitals across England and Wales explored how everyday technologies are enrolled on acute wards to drive attention to the existence, diagnosis, and needs of people living with dementia within their ageing population. We explore how signs and symbols as everyday "technologies of attention" both produce and maintain the invisibilities of people living with dementia and of the older population within those wards and bring about particular understandings of the classification of dementia. The use and reliance on signs and symbols to aid recognition of people living with dementia may inadvertently lead to misclassification and narrow attention onto particular aspects of bedside care and "symptoms," competing with a wider appreciation of the individual care needs of people living with dementia and restricting expertise of ward staff.

Asignación ética de recursos sanitarios escasos en el contexto de crisis por COVID-19 / Ethical allocation of scarce health care resources in the context of the COVID-19 crisis

La actual pandemia por COVID-19 tiene el potencial de sobrepasar la capacidad de hospitales y unidades de cuidados intensivos en Chile y América Latina. Por lo tanto, las autoridades locales tienen la obligación ética de estar preparadas mediante la implementación de medidas tendientes a evitar una situación de racionamiento de recursos sanitarios escasos, y a través de la definición de criterios éticamente aceptables y socialmente legítimos para la asignación de estos recursos. Este artículo presenta una respuesta a orientaciones éticas recientes emitidas por una institución académica chilena y analiza los principios éticos relevantes para la fundamentación ética de criterios de racionamiento. Se argumenta que, frente a circunstancias excepcionales como la actual pandemia, la moral centrada en el paciente de la medicina tradicional necesita ser ponderada con principios éticos formulados desde una perspectiva de salud pública, incluyendo los principios de utilidad social, justicia social y equidad, entre otros. Se concluye con algunas recomendaciones sobre cómo llegar a acuerdo sobre criterios de racionamiento y sobre la implementación de estos en la práctica clínica.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to overwhelm the capacity of hospitals and Intensive Care Units in Chile and Latin America. Thus local authorities have an ethical obligation to be prepared by implementing pertinent measures to prevent a situation of rationing of scarce healthcare resources, and by defining ethically acceptable and socially legitimate criteria for the allocation of these resources. This paper responds to recent ethical guidelines issued by a Chilean academic institution and discusses the main moral principles for the ethical foundations of criteria for rationing during the present crisis. It argues that under exceptional circumstances such as the current pandemic, the traditional patient-centered morality of medicine needs to be balanced with ethical principles formulated from a public health perspective, including the principles of social utility, social justice and equity, among others. The paper concludes with some recommendations regarding how to reach an agreement about rationing criteria and about their implementation in clinical practice.

[Use of placebo in French hospitals: data from polyvalent medicine units]. / Le placebo à l'hôpital - Regard sur son utilisation dans les services de médecine polyvalente.

A placebo drug is defined as a treatment without any specific pharmacological efficacy, that works when the patient thinks to receive an active treatment, through a psychological and physiological mechanism. This study aimed to evaluate the use of placebo in French hospitals, in Polyvalent Medicine units. A questionnaire comprising 15 items was sent to 372 units. The analysis of 153 responses was conducted from dynamic crosstabs in Excel and using the R software available online. The survey confirmed that the use of placebos in hospital is frequent, with nearly 2/3 of professionals answering the questionnaire declared to use it. The oral capsule is the most commonly used form. Placebo is mainly administered at night, in case of pain, insomnia or anxiety, to so-called "difficult" patients. Placebo is not always given after medical prescription. In most cases, patients are not informed that they receive a placebo. The majority of professionals believed in the placebo effect but considered to be insufficiently informed and trained in the use of placebo in current practice. Although the placebo effect is now demonstrated, ethical and legal considerations recommend placebo treatment only on medical prescription, with the prior information of the patient. The placebo could be used as complementary therapy to conventional treatment in the cases of this therapeutic effectiveness has been demonstrated. Professionals should be trained in the use of placebo in order to avoid nocebo effect and potentiate beneficial effects of placebo.

TITLE: Le placebo à l'hôpital - Regard sur son utilisation dans les services de médecine polyvalente. ABSTRACT: Un placebo est défini comme un traitement sans efficacité pharmacologique propre qui agit, lorsque le patient pense recevoir un traitement actif, par des mécanismes psychologiques et physiologiques. Notre étude avait pour but d'évaluer l'utilisation du placebo dans les unités de médecine polyvalente des hôpitaux français. Pour cela, un questionnaire comprenant 15 items a été transmis à plusieurs unités. L'analyse des réponses reçues confirme que l'utilisation de placebos à l'hôpital est fréquente, près des deux tiers des professionnels ayant répondu déclarent en faire usage. L'administration du placebo en gélule par voie orale est la forme la plus couramment utilisée. À l'hôpital, il est administré principalement la nuit, le plus souvent sans prescription médicale, en cas de douleur, d'insomnie ou d'anxiété, à des patients dits « difficiles ¼ (solliciteurs d'attention et de soin). Dans la plupart des cas, les patients ne sont pas informés qu'il s'agit d'un placebo. La majorité des professionnels « croit ¼ en l'effet placebo, mais se considèrent cependant insuffisamment informés et formés à son utilisation. Fréquemment utilisé à l'hôpital, son efficacité thérapeutique étant largement admise, des considérations éthiques et juridiques imposent de recommander que sa nature soit précisée au patient lors de sa prescription (au même titre que les autres préparations hospitalières). On parlera alors de « placebo ouvert ¼, c'est-à-dire que des explications sur les effets et les mécanismes d'action du placebo seront données au patient. Des études récentes montrent que dire au patient qu'il reçoit un placebo ouvert n'affecte en rien son effet.

The struggle for clinical ethics in Jordanian Hospitals.

The Arab and Islamic world is in cultural, political and ethical flux. Pressures of globalisation contend with ancient ideas and concepts that permeate cultural frameworks. Health professionals are among the many groups battling to accommodate the rapidly changing conditions. In many predominantly Muslim countries intense debates are underway among clinicians about the impact of the forces of change on their practices. To help understand these forces we conducted a study of the experiences of clinicians in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a Middle Eastern nation state where the overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim. The sample contained 508 doctors and doctors-in-training, of whom 63% were male and 80% were younger than 40 years of age. It included both a quantitative survey, covering a wide range of issues, and qualitative, free-text written responses. Our results demonstrated high levels of disquiet related to the overall organisation and administration of the health care system, the specific content of ethical decisionmaking, and the impact of changing social, cultural and religious factors. Concerns included overcrowding, widespread corruption and hierarchical, non- democratic, management practices, and tensions relating to traditional and modern approaches to ethics, especially in relation to consent, organ donation, confidentiality, privacy, abortion, and the role of women. The roles of religion and religious authorities, the relative importance of the family, and community and tribal obligations were also areas of contention. The study exposes profound divisions and widely differing perspectives among Jordanian doctors and an abiding sense of uncertainty and instability within the profession. Many doctors express ambivalence in relation to both modern trends and traditional precepts. Three main axes of ethical contention were demonstrated, relating to the tensions between: "conservative" and "pragmatic" styles of decision-making; "traditional" approaches and internationalised standards of ethics; and the role of Islam and pressures to disengage ethical decision- making from religious authority. We speculate that these issues and divisions, and the deep sense of disquiet revealed by our data reflect large-scale forces to which Jordanian society is exposed and to a substantial degree may provide a way to understand the ethical predicament of many other countries in the contemporary Arab world.

Hurricane Harvey: One Hospital's Journey Toward Organizational Resilience.

One hospital's experiences during the Hurricane Harvey disaster are reviewed and detailed using the strategic technique of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis. Three leadership behaviors, adaptability, empowerment, and social justice, are discussed relative to organizational resiliency. This hospital's journey during Hurricane Harvey is analyzed using these leadership behaviors in a detailed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis format. Key lessons learned from this exercise are presented and are applicable to other disaster situations facing hospital performance.

Patient safety and the role of the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology: A European survey.

BACKGROUND: The Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety was launched in 2010 by the European Society of Anaesthesiology and the European Board of Anaesthesiology. It is not clear how widely its vision and standards have been adopted. OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of the Helsinki Declaration in promoting and maintaining patient safety in European anaesthesiology. DESIGN: Online survey. SETTING: A total of 38 countries within Europe. PARTICIPANTS: Members of the European Society of Anaesthesiology who responded to an invitation to take part by electronic mail. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses from a 16-item online survey to explore each member anaesthesiologist's understanding of the Declaration and compliance with its standards. RESULTS: We received 1589 responses (33.4% response rate), with members from all countries responding. The median [IQR] response rate of members was 20.5% [11.7 to 37.0] per country. There were many commonalities across Europe. There were very high levels of use of monitoring (pulse oximetry: 99.6%, blood pressure: 99.4%; ECG: 98.1% and capnography: 96.0%). Protocols and guidelines were also widely used, with those for pre-operative assessment, and difficult and failed intubation being particularly popular (mentioned by 93.4% and 88.9% of respondents, respectively). There was evidence of widespread use of the WHO Safe Surgery checklist, with only 93 respondents (6.0%) suggesting that they never used it. Annual reports of measures taken to improve patient safety, and of morbidity and mortality, were produced in the hospitals of 588 (37.3%) and 876 (55.7%) respondents, respectively. Around three-quarters of respondents, 1216, (78.7%) stated that their hospital used a critical incident reporting system. Respondents suggested that measures to promote implementation of the Declaration, such as a formal set of checklist items for day-to-day practice, publicity, translation and simulation training, would currently be more important than possible changes to its content. CONCLUSION: Many patient safety practices encouraged by the Declaration are well embedded in many European countries. The data have highlighted areas where there is still room for improvement.