| dc.description.abstract | The main purpose of this article is to study what nurses consider
most important when focusing on patient safety. The study uses a
qualitative design based on focus group interviews with nurses
who work with acute, critically ill patients in hospitals. Two hospitals
were chosen. The data collection was conducted in October
and November 2002. The research comprised 23 nurses with specialist
degrees, including one man, divided into four groups. The
criterion for inclusion in the study was being a nurse with advanced
training in anesthesiology, intensive care, or operating-room
nursing. The nurses were between 35 and 61 years old. The job
experience as nursing specialist varied from 3/4 to 32 years. The
findings show that the informants were concerned with patients’
safety, and they placed a considerable emphasis on their personal
responsibility for safety. The informants discussed safety in relation
to themselves and their colleagues, and to a lesser degree with
respect to their level in the organizational structure. The nurses
were concerned with themselves, their own attitudes, and efficient
teamwork with other groups of professionals. Cooperation requires
speaking the same language. Different cultural and linguistic
backgrounds can be problematic. They had written procedures that
were not based on higher national or international standards.
Both standards and individual judgment were evaluated as important
for patient safety. | en |
