Perception of a multidisciplinary team on the factors contributing to adverse events at a university hospital

Abstract

The objectives of this study were: to analyze the perception of a multidisciplinary team of a university hospital on factors contributing to adverse events (AE); to associate such factors to Parasuraman, Berry and Zeilthaml's dimensions of service quality. This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach and prospective data collection. The population consisted of 98 professionals with a BS in Health. Data was collected from May to June 2010, through a questionnaire with the consent of the Research Ethics Committee of that institution. The research population consisted mostly of young adults; 74.5% were female; 31.6% had a post-graduate degree. The perception of professionals on the factors influencing AE related to dimensions of quality was: responsiveness to customer's right to refuse procedures; empathy towards customers' satisfaction and confidence in recommending the institution. Among the participants, pharmacists and nurses conveyed their perception more emphatically. The most cited AEs were: expected or unexpected (according to package insert) pathological effects in medical treatments, medication errors and falls. This research helped to understand the perception of the multidisciplinary team about the factors contributing to the occurrence of adverse events; it supports the redesign of care and management processes focusing on risk management.