The Culture of Patient Safety in Nursing Homes

Abstract

Introduction: Since its inception, nursing has valued patient safety. However, its importance was greatly boosted by the Institute of Medicine's report “To Err is Human”, in 1999. The culture of patient safety in nursing homes, still little studied, deserves to be developed with a view to improving quality of care; Objective: To analyze the scientific evidence on the culture of patient safety in nursing homes; Inclusion criteria: Participants: Caregivers in nursing homes. Concept: Culture of Patient Safety. Context: Nursing home; Research strategy: Integrative literature review, study research through CINHAL and MEDLINE and using Google Scholar and dissertation repositories. Complement of research in the references of the studies fully analyzed. The time period between 2015 and 2020 was defined and the inclusion of articles with full text; Results: 12 articles were selected referring to studies on the culture of patient safety from different realities and from different countries; Discussion: Home staff have a positive overall assessment of patient safety. The culture of patient safety has a correlation with the quality of care provided. There are transversally deficient areas in nursing homes, related to human resources and the notification of adverse events. The managers of nursing homes reveal a general perception of the safety of residents that is more favorable than those closest to the care; Conclusion: The scientific evidence regarding the culture of patient safety in nursing homes is scarce in Portugal. The complexity of the population of nursing homes, the multi-professional influence and structural deficits in important areas, such as staff, point to the need for further studies, mainly qualitative, and a set of emerging interventions that lead to an improvement in the culture of patient safety and the quality of care provided in these structures.