title: Safety and quality in critical patient care.
abstract: The care quality has gradually been placed in the center of the health system, reaching the patient safety a greater role as one of the key dimensions of quality in recent years. The monitoring, measurement and improvement of safety and quality of care in the Intensive Care Unit represent a great challenge for the critical care community. Health interventions carry a risk of adverse events or events that can cause injury, disability and even death in patients. In Intensive Care Unit, the severity of the critical patient, communication barriers, a high number of activities per patient per day, the practice of diagnostic procedures and invasive treatments, and the quantity and complexity of the information received, among others, put at risk these units as areas for the occurrence of adverse events. This article presents some of the strategies and interventions proposed and tested internationally to optimize the care of critical patients and improve the safety culture in the Intensive Care Unit.
authors.affiliation: UGC de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España. Electronic address: mariai.gonzalez.sspa@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: María Isabel
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: González-Méndez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermería, Facultad de Enfermería, Fisioterapia y Podología, Universidad de Sevilla, España; Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: López-Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Calidad; Cuidados intensivos; Intensive care; Quality; Safety; Seguridad