Adverse events related to nursing care in the intensive care unit of the Esmeraldas sur Delfina Torres de Concha Hospital.

Abstract

Introduction: An adverse event is an unintentional injury or damage caused by action or omission to the patient in an unintentional manner. These events occur during health care; therefore, health care personnel should be trained in everything related to these events in order to face the problem, reduce their recurrence and improve the quality of care offered to the patient. Objective: To analyze the factors that cause the occurrence of adverse events in the intensive care unit of the Hospital Esmeraldas sur Delfina Torres de Concha. Methods: This was a mixed quantitative/qualitative study with a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive scope. The population consisted of all the nurses in the service. Documentary review was used as a data collection technique, another technique was the survey applied to the nursing staff of the service and an interview with the person responsible for adverse events in the quality department of the facility. Results: The most frequent events were those related to clinical procedures (48%), followed by pressure ulcers, medical and biomedical devices, and drug administration. The staff is aware of adverse events and possible causes, where 52% reported that work overload affects patient care. It was evidenced that the facility performs the process of event notification and respective follow-up of improvement plans. Conclusion: The most frequent adverse events are related to clinical procedures, the nursing staff is aware of the filling and notification, as well as how to act to avoid further harm to the patient, and work is being done to reduce recurrence by improving the quality of care.