TEACHING-SERVICE-COMMUNITY INTEGRATION IN PRACTICE: EDUCATIONAL ACTIONS TO STRENGTHEN THE PATIENT SAFETY CORE
Education; Health Service; Patient safety.
Introduction: Patient safety is a fundamental aspect of qualifying healthcare, requiring the implementation of strategies that favor the consolidation of an organizational culture focused on mitigating risks and preventing adverse events. In this context, the integration between teaching and service is an essential tool for the continuous improvement of healthcare practices and for the development of professional skills focused on healthcare safety. The adoption of strategies based on teaching-service-community integration has the potential to strengthen the patient safety culture by articulating academic knowledge with healthcare practices. In teaching hospitals, this approach enables the implementation of educational actions aimed at both students and healthcare professionals, promoting continuous training and directly impacting the quality of care provided. This professional qualification contributes to reducing the occurrence of adverse events and harm to patients, optimizing the safety and effectiveness of healthcare services. Objectives: To strengthen the hospital Patient Safety Center (NSP) through teaching-service-community integration. Methodology: This is a descriptive exploratory qualitative study, of the action research type, approved by the Ethics Committee of FACISA/UFRN, and carried out in a public hospital in Seridó Potiguar. Initially, the HSOPSC questionnaire was applied to the management board to assess the patient safety culture. Based on the results obtained, an intervention plan was developed for the programming of educational actions. Such actions were carried out based on the guidelines of the Teaching-Service-Community Integration, with the objective of strengthening safety practices among hospital professionals. Finally, a Patient Safety Technical Manual was developed, containing guidelines and good practices essential for improving safety in care. Results: The HSOPSC questionnaire was applied to assess the patient safety culture in the health unit. The average of the patient safety dimensions analyzed was 51.60%, indicating that the patient safety culture still needs to be strengthened. Based on these results, an intervention plan was developed to program educational actions in order to strengthen safety practices among hospital professionals. Based on this, considering the teaching-service-community integration, 26 educational moments were held, reaching 1,435 people, involving health professionals, managers, users and students. In addition, a Patient Safety Technical Manual was created, containing guidelines and good practices essential for improving safety in care. Final Considerations: At the end of the study, it was found that the objectives were achieved, making it possible to understand the patient safety climate of the hospital unit; to build an intervention plan for the hospital NSP based on the articulation with local universities; to develop educational actions based on the intervention plan in partnership with local universities; and to prepare a Patient Safety Technical Manual as a technical product. It is expected that other studies can be promoted by valuing the integration of teaching and service as a way to strengthen safe practices in health services.