Peer-reviewed article
Patient safety incidents identified by the caregivers of hospitalized children
Letícia Maria Hoffmann, Wiliam Wegner, Cecília Biasibetti, Merianny de Ávila Peres, Luíza Maria Gerhardt et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined safety incidents in hospitals from the perspective of caregivers of hospitalized children in Brazil. Researchers interviewed 40 caregivers and identified problems including falls, feeding issues, patient identification, medication errors, poor communication, hygiene, and disease spread. The study found that communication breakdowns and poor relationships between caregivers and hospital staff were major factors contributing to safety problems and reduced quality of care.
Key points
- Caregivers identified multiple safety incident categories: falls, feeding, identification, medication, communication, hand hygiene, environmental hygiene, disease spread, and care procedures
- Communication and relationships between caregivers and professionals were identified as the main contributory factors for patient safety incidents
- Caregiver participation and engagement in child care may help develop a safety culture in hospitals
Limitations
This qualitative study of caregiver perceptions cannot determine the actual frequency or severity of safety incidents, nor can it establish causality. The findings are specific to three hospitals in one Brazilian city and may not be generalizable to other settings.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to analyze patient safety incidents identified by caregivers of hospitalized children. METHOD: a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive study was carried out with 40 caregivers of children hospitalized in three hospital institutions in the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, from April to December 2016. Semi-structured, recorded and transcribed interviews were carried out in their entirety, submitted to a thematic analysis using the NVivo 11.0 software. RESULTS: reports related to falls, infant feeding, patient/caregiver identification, medication process, communication, hand hygiene and hygiene of the hospital environment, spread of diseases, relations between caregivers and professionals and care processes/procedures were all cited. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: communication and the relations among caregivers and professionals are the main contributory factors for patient safety incidents, interfering with the quality of care. The participation of caregivers and engagement in child care may be strategies to be developed to promote a safety culture.