The risk assessment of adverse events of nursing activities as the element of quality management in healthcare

The purpose of the paper is to present MedCARVER+Shock method and Pareto analysis and its usability for the risk assessment of adverse events of nursing activities. 888 activities carried out by all 190 nurses working at the District Hospital X located in Poland were taken into account. During the research the qualitative approach was used. As the result sixteen groups of nursing activities causing the highest risk of adverse events were selected. Special attention required in: admission of a patient to the ward, sterilization, verbal communication with the patient, using of intravenous cannulas, needles, syringes, devices for transfusion of infusion liquids, servicing of hospital rooms, first aid in life-threatening situations, using medical devices and equipment. Ten basic causes of the risk of adverse events were identified, among others: lack of trainings, of modern equipment, of staff, failure to comply with procedures, lack of staff supervision, poor quality of ancillary materials, lack of management commitment. Finally MedCARVER+Shock method and Pareto analysis usability has been confirmed but it appeared that it is time-consuming and requires support from skilled professionals. Several suggestions have been put forward to improve the utility of MedCARVER+Shock.