State of the knowledge about nursing care from risk theory: integrative review

Abstract

Introduction: Risk analysis is a result of the emergence of modernity, which imprints a culture of risk on society. This phenomenon fosters changes in the phenomenological perception of social development and redefines the ways of approaching care, caring, and caring for oneself.

Objective: To present the current state of knowledge on nursing care from a risk perspective.

Methods: An integrative review was conducted on scientific publications from 2003 to 2023. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart was used. Inclusion criteria were studies published between 2003 and 2023 in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, available in PubMed, SciELO, Dialnet, Google Scholar, and Index. Exclusion criteria included reprints, abstracts, chapters, letters, editorials, experience reports, and case studies. Search strategies used the MeSH/DeCS terms “risk,” “society,” “safety,” “care,” “nursing,” and “nursing care,” along with the Boolean operators AND and OR. The review followed the mnemonic “INTEGRA.” Evidence was analyzed according to the hierarchical level proposed by Mazurek and Fineout Overholt. The EndNote program was used to identify relevant studies not captured in the database. The search found 57 articles, of which 13 met the eligibility criteria and were included.

Conclusions: The state of knowledge is presented, evidencing two ways to approach risk from a social and civil perspective, related to the ethical and deontological norms of the Nursing profession.