Written reports of adverse events in acute care—A discourse analysis
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2019

Adverse health care events are a global public health issue despite major efforts, and they have been acknowledged as a complex concern. The aim of this study was to explore the construction of unsafe care using accounts of adverse events concerning the patient, as reported by patients, relatives, and health care professionals. Twenty-nine adverse events reported in an acute care setting in a Swedish university hospital were analyzed through discourse analysis, where the construction of what was considered to be real and true in the descriptions of unsafe care was analyzed. In the written reports about unsafe events, the patient was spoken of in three different ways: (a) the patient as a presentation of physical signs, (b) the patient as suffering and vulnerable, and (c) the patient as unpredictable. When the patient's voice was subordinate to physical signs, this was described as being something that conflicted with patient safety. The conclusion was that the patient's voice might be the only sign available in the early stages of adverse events. Therefore, it is crucial for health care professionals to give importance to the patient's voice to prevent patients from harm and not unilaterally act only upon abnormal physical signs.

adverse health care event

discourse analysis

adverse event

patient safety

unsafe care

Författare

Anna Gyberg

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Ingela Henoch

Göteborgs universitet

Angereds Närsjukhus

Margret Lepp

Högskolen i Östfold

Griffith University

Göteborgs universitet

Helle Wijk

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik

Göteborgs universitet

Kerstin Ulin

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Göteborgs universitet

Nursing Inquiry

1320-7881 (ISSN) 1440-1800 (eISSN)

Vol. 26 4 e12298

Ämneskategorier

Hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisation, hälsopolitik och hälsoekonomi

Omvårdnad

Samhällsfarmaci och klinisk farmaci

DOI

10.1111/nin.12298

PubMed

31134720

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2021-01-07