Nursing assistance in patient safety at ICU: an integrative literature review

Abstract

This article sought to analyze the importance of nursing care in patient safety in the Intensive Care Unit. It is an integrative literature review. Among the results found in the analysis of the articles, it was noticed that the main factors that affect patient safety, considered of greater relevance, are; the working conditions of the nursing team, the performance of the nursing team and the instruments used for patient safety. It was evidenced that the main errors and failures that occur are related to drugs; the adverse events observed, overload of the nursing professional, relationship between the teams and the low continuity of care provided to patients. It can be observed that the occurrence of errors and adverse events within the ICU, for the most part, is the competence of nursing due to the direct and constant performance of patient care. Thus, it is expected that this work will contribute to the understanding of nurses' competence in the ICU and the importance of organizational practices, as well as to identify possible factors that contribute to the involvement of possible failures and errors in the search for quality of care.