Farmacovigilância hospitalar: compreensão de profissionais de enfermagem acerca de sua atuação.

Abstract

The professionals of the nursing team act at the forefront of pharmacovigilance actions for participating effectively in the process of preparation and administration of medications, in addition to performing most of the notifications of irregularities that involve them. Due to the need to investigate the specific understanding of this category in pharmacovigilance activities, in order to make feasible the actions and measures that ensure good practices of pharmacovigilance in hospital and ensure patient safety, the present study aims to analyze if there are differences between the understanding of professionals of the nursing team about the role they play in hospital pharmacovigilance and the purpose of this practice according to sociodemographic and professional characteristics. A cross-sectional study of a quantitative approach was carried out at a school hospital in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba, during the period from September 2018 to February 2019. Through a census, all nursing professionals of middle or higher level that deal directly with the process of preparation and administration of medicines, totaling 303 professionals. Based on the exclusion criteria of partially responding to the instrument, using technological and / or human resources to seek clarifications about the subject and being away or on leave of any nature, the sample consisted of 271 participants. The data collection instrument was composed of a part that was devoted to the construction of the sociodemographic and professional profile and another that addressed the understanding and practice of pharmacovigilance professionals. Data were analyzed through measures of central tendency, relative and absolute frequency, and inferential tests, which adopted a significance level of 5% and a 95% confidence interval. The results point to a good understanding of the role that nursing professionals play in pharmacovigilance activities, although the understanding of the purpose of the actions has obtained lesser results. Mid-level professionals demonstrated a worse sense of association with comprehension in both situations, as well as professionals with higher ages, longer training time and longer time in the institution compared to tests of comparison. The results attest to the accountability of the nursing staff in general as one of the main vigilantes of the use of medicines and report makers of irregularities. The worst meanings of the association obtained by nursing technicians and auxiliaries can be attributed to the low knowledge about the subject, transference of the responsibility of this process to the professionals of higher level and deficient knowledge about therapeutic effects, calculations of medications and drug interactions. The concentration of investments in educational practices and institutional incentives for groups of young professionals can justify the smaller understandings obtained by older professionals with longer training and performance times in the institution, as well as the functional aging process from the age of 45 years. It is concluded that despite the good results it is necessary to invest in long-term educational interventions so that the responsibility for the use of medicines and patient safety is associated with the routine of care.