Missed nursing care in a Portuguese hospital: nurses’ perceptions of minimizing strategies

Abstract

Background: Missed nursing care (MNC) is a problematic issue in clinical settings. The contextual knowledge of the reasons underlying it calls for managers to implement guidelines for minimizing MNC and redesigning nurses’ practices. Objectives: To identify strategies perceived by the nurses in an oncology hospital to minimize MNC. Methodology: Exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study with a qualitative approach based on case study assumptions. Environmental sample composed of 10 nurses from the medical specialties of an oncology hospital. Semi-structured interviews were applied from September to October 2018. All participants gave their informed consent. Results: Nurses identified the following strategies to minimize MNC and improve the quality of nursing care: Error awareness, Training, Communication, Adequacy of resources, and Change in the organizational culture. Conclusion: MNC compromises the quality of care and increase patient vulnerability. Adopting the identified strategies can benefit the organization studied and improve the quality of care.