THE OCCURRENCE OF NEAR MISSES AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN THE SURGICAL CLINIC OF A TEACHING HOSPITAL

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of, and factors associated with, near misses related to the safety of patients undergoing inpatient treatment in the surgical clinic of a teaching hospital. It is a transversal study, undertaken with 750 episodes of inpatient treatment undertaken in 2010, using the medical records as the data source. Data collection occurred in January – May 2011. Univariate analysis and logistic regression were undertaken. The recording of near misses occurred in 1.7% of all the episodes of inpatient treatment. A total of 18 near misses was recorded, that related to the process of prescribing medications being the most frequent. Being male was associated as a protective factor. The need was ascertained to encourage health professionals to record near misses, so as to support the learning process at work, make it possible to study the causal factors, and promote improvements in the work process.

Keywords

• Patient safety
• Medical errors
• Management of quality