Nurses’ adherence to incident reporting in an operating room: Diagnosis of the situation

Abstract

Background: Safety is a crucial aspect of healthcare provision. Incidents or adverse events in healthcare can often be prevented and must be reported when they occur. Objective: To assess nurses’ opinions about the process of reporting adverse events in their institution, the barriers to the process, and the strategies to promote it. Methodology: A simple descriptive study was conducted with 62 nurses working at the operating room of a central hospital in the center of Portugal. A questionnaire was administered in February 2022. Results: The main barriers identified were the lack of a reporting culture, work overload, lack of feedback, forgetfulness, and insufficient knowledge about the system and what to report. The strategies identified to promote the reporting process were training, feedback, and debriefings. Conclusion: Institutions should create favorable environments for professionals to report incidents.