Patient Safety Culture and Adverse Events Reporting in Intensive Care and Emergency Nurses

Abstract

Introduction: Patient safety culture requires a high degree of commitment on the part of nurses working in critical areas, due to the vulnerability of the people to whom they provide care; however, there is scarce information on its association with adverse events reporting.

Objective: To describe the relationship between patient safety culture and adverse event reporting for the cases of intensive care and emergency nurses in a public hospital in Lima.

Methods: A correlational-transectional study was conducted. A survey was carried out on 115 nurses from Hospital María Auxiliadora, in Lima, Peru (census sample): 44 from the intensive care unit and 71 from the emergency department, between September and October 2022. The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) was used, as well as the Spearman's test.

Results: 51.59 % reported a neutral-negative safety culture and 75.65 % rated adverse event reporting as acceptable. Some correlation was found between patient safety culture and adverse event reporting (r = 0.322; p = 0.000; CI = 95 %).

Conclusions: There is a direct correlation between safety culture and adverse event reporting. In critical hospital services, it is necessary to implement strategies to improve safety culture, which could promote adequate adverse events reporting.