Causes and consequences factors of errors in nursing care

a education process

Abstract

This is a descriptive study of a Nursing Auditing program performed in a private hospital in Belo Horizonte from July 1998 to December 1999. The objectives were: to catalog the anomalies in the nursing care to hospitalized patients; to identify its causes and consequences to both hospital and patient; to detect needs for planing and implementation of nursing staff training; to suggest indicators for nursing administration. The largest number of anomalies identified refers to the nursing care records for which lack of precise methods and procedures is the most important cause. Its more common consequences are the lack of continuity of care delivered to patients, unmet health needs of patients, problems related to work productivity and other administrative problems. Of the anomalies identified many were corrected through either working with individual nursing staff or training classes. The results were positive however some difficulties were faced with the nursing staff at the beginning of the program.