Sleep disorders, sleepiness and traffic safety: a public health menace

Sleep disorders are not uncommon and have been widely reported throughout the world. They have a profound impact on industrialized 24-h societies. Consequences of these problems include impaired social and recreational activities, increased human errors, loss of productivity, and elevated risk of accidents. Conditions such as acute and chronic insomnia, sleep loss, excessive sleepiness, shift-work, jet lag, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea warrant public health attention, since residual sleepiness during the day may affect performance of daily activities such as driving a car. Benzodiazepine hypnotics and zopiclone promote sleep, both having residual effects the following day including sleepiness and reduced alertness. In contrast, the non-benzodiazepine hypnotics zolpidem and zaleplon have no significant next-day residual effects when taken as recommended. Research on the effects of wakefulness-promoting drugs on driving ability is limited. Countermeasures for excessive daytime sleepiness have a limited effect. There is a need for a social awareness program to educate the public about the potential consequences of various sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, sleep apnea, shift-work-related sleep loss, and excessive daytime sleepiness in order to reduce the number of sleep-related traffic accidents.

Evaluating the intervening factors in patient safety: focusing on hospital nursing staff

OBJECTIVE To evaluate intervening factors in patient safety, focusing on hospital nursing staff. METHOD The study is descriptive, with qualitative approach, excerpt from a larger study with analytical nature. It was undertaken in a public hospital in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, between January and June 2013, with semi-structured interviews to 70 nurses, using Thematic Content Analysis. RESULTS The principal intervening factors in patient safety related to hospital nursing staff were staff dimensioning and workload, professional qualification and training, team work, being contracted to the institution, turnover and lack of job security, and bad practice/disruptive behaviors. These aspects severely interfere with the establishment of a safety culture in the hospital analyzed. CONCLUSION It is necessary for managers to invest in nursing staff, so that these workers may be valued as fundamental in the promotion of patient safety, making it possible to develop competences for taking decisions with focus on the improvement of quality care.

Cultura e clima organizacional para segurança do paciente em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar a percepção dos profissionais de saúde sobre o clima e a cultura de segurança do paciente em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva (UTI) e a relação entre os instrumentos Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) e o Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). Método Estudo transversal realizado em hospital de ensino no interior do estado de São Paulo, Brasil, em março/abril de 2014. Aplicaram-se o HSOPSC, o SAQ e um instrumento para levantamento das informações sociodemográficas e profissionais aos funcionários das UTI adulto, pediátrica e neonatal. A análise utilizou a estatística descritiva. Resultados As escalas apresentaram boa confiabilidade. Maiores fragilidades para a segurança do paciente foram observadas nos domínios “condições de trabalho” e “percepções da gerência” do SAQ e “resposta não punitiva aos erros” do HSOPSC. As fortalezas no SAQ foram o “clima de trabalho em equipe” e a “satisfação no trabalho” e para o HSOPSC “expectativas e ações de promoção de segurança supervisores/gerentes” e “aprendizado organizacional e melhoria mútua”. Na UTI Neonatal houve maior satisfação no trabalho do que nas demais UTI. A UTI Adulto apresentou menores pontuações para a maioria dos domínios do SAQ e HSOPSC. A correlação entre as escalas foi de força moderada (r=0,66). Conclusão Há diferenças de percepções quanto à segurança do paciente entre as UTI, o que corrobora com a existência de microculturas locais. O estudo não demonstra que o SAQ e o HSOPSC sejam equivalentes.