Medical students’ perception of pediatric patient safety in Primary Health Care

Abstract

Introduction: In Pediatric Patient Safety (PPS) some factors, related to vulnerability, can increase the occurrence of harm during the care received by the health team. Objective: To analyze the perception of medical students about PPS in Primary Health Care (PHC). Methods: Mixed cross-sectional study, with the application of questionnaires to medical students, with open and Likert questions about con­tents of the National Patient Safety Program (PNSP) in daily actions in pediatric PHC, related to concep­tual and attitudinal aspects. Results: 114 students participated, mean age 21 years, majority (71/62.3%) female. Only 12 (10.5%) reported knowing something about the PNSP and the Patient Safety culture and 41 (36%) perceived difficulties in proposing changes in the service. The concepts and applicability of the PNSP researched among students, demonstrated approximation in the expressions in Likert and qualitative analysis, with points of approximation to the pediatric approach: “Administration of med­ication” and “Hand hygiene” and of removal: “Family involved with their safety” and “Safety in the use of technology”. Discussion: Despite the difficulties in proposing changes, the students indicated paths related to effective communication; organization of childcare, from appointment scheduling to medica­tion care; improvements in the teaching-learning process about PPS in PHC. Conclusion: Despite little knowledge in SPP, there was an approximation to the topics of the PNSP, with the cultural aspects being the ones that present the greatest difficulties in the implementation of these measures.