Significados, ações e interpretações dos discentes de enfermagem sobre a segurança do paciente

Abstract

Introduction: Patient Safety comprises measures for preventing the patient against risks, unnecessary damage and adverse events at the time of assistance in health services. Patient safety has led to numerous debates in the current world health scenario, with the aim of institutionalizing best practices in the environments where patients are assisted. To build a safety culture, it is essential to address patient safety in different levels of education. Objective: To understand the meanings, actions and interpretations attributed to the theme "patient safety" by nursing course students. Materials and Methods: This is an investigatory, descriptive study with a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews and document analysis as data collection techniques. The semi-structured interview was conducted with 12 graduating students of the undergraduate nursing course at a public higher education institution in a municipality in the northern region of the State of Amazonas, Brazil. This study is based on the theoretical and methodological proposal of Symbolic Interactionism. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the results. In documentary research, the investigation was performed out in the Educational Planning Program (PPC, acronym in Portuguese) and 12 teaching plans for the nursing course according to the Patient safety curriculum guide: multi-professional edition. Results: The results generated through the students’ interviews created three categories: "The meaning of patient safety," "Factors that hinder the preservation of patient safety" and "The insertion of the patient safety theme in the nursing course." The meanings for students about patient safety are harm reduction, guaranteeing the integrity of the patient, family members and health professionals, health promotion through knowledge acquired in academia, the attitude and the practice of health professionals. Among the factors that impair the preservation of patient safety mentioned by the students are the following: lack of implementation of patient safety in a hospital environment, lack of physical structure and human resources in places where they take practical classes and curricular internships. The students were unanimous in declaring the need to insert patient safety as a mandatory discipline in the nursing course, as well as the possibility of transversality throughout the course. The results of the documentary analysis showed that there are contents related to patient safety regarding nine of the eleven topics in the Patient safety curriculum guide: multi-professional edition in the investigated undergraduate course. The approach to patient safety was identified from the 1st to the 10th period in the course, except the 2nd, 3rd and 7th period where content related to the theme was not identified. Conclusion: With this study, it was possible to know the reality of nursing students of a higher education institution in a municipality in the interior of Amazonas, allowing the understanding of patient safety from the perspective of the students, as well as helping identify how the insertion of the theme in the respective undergraduate course is occurring. Based on the results found both in the interview and in the documentary analysis, it is concluded that the approach to Patient Safety in the investigated course focuses on professional training, presenting gaps in content and information on the topic. It is necessary to expand Patient Safety in the training of these students, with knowledge produced in the National Patient Safety Program (PNPS, acronym in Portuguese), WHO guidelines, and other documents on the subject. Adding new content to PPC will bring a valuable contribution to academia and future professionals, impacting the training of students and the mitigation of Adverse Events.