Perception of Patient Safety Culture in the Framework of the Psychosocial Care Network in Western Amazon: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Marcos Cordeiro Araripe,Gabriel Zorello Laporta,Walédya Araújo Lopes De Melo,Ítalla Maria Pinheiro Bezerra ,Glauco Martins Silva ,Marcos Venícius Malveira De Lima

doi:10.3390/healthcare8030289

Abstract

The culture of patient safety should be considered a guiding principle for different areas of health. This research presents the results of an analysis on Patient Safety Culture (PSC), according to the perception of health professionals who work in the Psychosocial Care Network, through a descriptive observational cross-sectional study, using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture in a municipality in the Western Amazon of Brazil. Sixty-nine (69) professionals expressed that the best dimensions evaluated were: “expectations and actions to promote the safety of supervisors and managers” (75%) and “support from hospital management to patient safety” (64%). The worst evaluations were: “non-punitive responses to errors” (27%) and “general perceptions about patient safety” (35%), demonstrating that there still is a culture of fear of causing harm and the need for educational actions on patient safety. In general, all professionals have close contact with patients, regardless of the length on duty; however, the weekly workload and turnover in this sector is leading to a greater chance of errors. The analysis of the internal reliability of the dimensions ranged from 0.12 to 0.89. Only one-third of the respondents scored PSC as “Good” in the studied institutions and 63 out 69 professionals did not report any adverse events in the last 12 months. There are weaknesses in the observed perception of PSC and the obtained results show opportunities and challenges for improvements in the study system.

Highlights

Patient Safety Culture (PSC) should be considered a guiding principle for different health areas.In medicine, this principle derives from the maxim of medical ethics “primum non nocere”, called the principle of non-maleficence, which proposes the obligation not to infringe intentional harm.The theme is so important that the World Health Organization (WHO) conceptualized “patient safety”as the absence of real or potential harm, related to health services, transforming this item into a quality indicator, guiding good clinical practices, through safer strategic measures to prevent harmHealthcare 2020, 8, 289; doi:10.3390/healthcare8030289 www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcareHealthcare 2020, 8, 289 to the patient [1,2]
The study population consisted of professionals from two health units, who provide direct assistance in mental health linked to the Brazilian Unified Health System, called SUS, and included: doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, technicians, and nursing assistants
The sample consisted of 69 professionals working at HOSMAC and CAPS AD III

Summary

Introduction

Patient Safety Culture (PSC) should be considered a guiding principle for different health areas.In medicine, this principle derives from the maxim of medical ethics “primum non nocere”, called the principle of non-maleficence, which proposes the obligation not to infringe intentional harm.The theme is so important that the World Health Organization (WHO) conceptualized “patient safety”as the absence of real or potential harm, related to health services, transforming this item into a quality indicator, guiding good clinical practices, through safer strategic measures to prevent harmHealthcare 2020, 8, 289; doi:10.3390/healthcare8030289 www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcareHealthcare 2020, 8, 289 to the patient [1,2]. Patient Safety Culture (PSC) should be considered a guiding principle for different health areas. By constituting itself as a theme whose notoriety has been increasing in visibility in several countries, including Brazil, the understanding of the environment and the context in which it is located influences changes in behavior, attitude, and organization of the system [5]. Such practices contribute significantly to the organization of a positive safety culture, focusing on communication based on mutual cooperation, guaranteeing the effectiveness of preventative measures [7]. It is necessary to look again at the applicability of safe practices in all hospitals due to the scientific evidence for their effectiveness in reducing adverse events [8,9]

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