Perception of Professionals from Specialized Rehabilitation Centers on Knowledge and Applicability of Patient Safety

Abstract

This report aimed to identify and to analyze the main knowledge and perceptions of health professionals who work at rehabilitation clinics on regarding Patient Safety. A questionnaire composed of 25 open questions about patient safety, types and notification of safety incidents was applied. Only patient identification and hand hygiene are recognized as relevant for patient safety by 100% of the professionals interviewed. Forty percent of respondents identify adverse event as the only type of patient safety incident. Other factors such as those related to the infrastructure and the overload of the health professionals were pointed out as a risk for the occurrence of failures in patient safety. There is underreporting of safety incidents and there is no dissemination of the patient safety culture of patients in the clinics evaluated. We conclude that rehabilitation clinics for attending many patients with motor, cognitive, balance deficits among others are places of high risk for the occurrence of safety flaws and that different strategies should be implemented to effectively prevent / reduce harm to patients such as continuous training, adequacy of rehabilitation clinics, and design of flows and processes.