Safety conditions perceived by family caregivers in pediatric care Condiciones de seguridad percibidas por cuidadores familiares en atención pediátrica.

Abstract

Objective: Identify the perception of caregivers about the safety conditions in pediatric care in the children´s hospital. Materials and methods: Descriptive study; 163 caregivers of hospitalized children participated and were selected through probabilistic sampling, the characterization interview and the safety conditions of the hospital environment (caregiver version) interview were applied, with a Cronbach´s alpha of 0.97, the data is expressed through descriptive statistics. Results: 51.5% of the caregivers correspond to an age range between 18-29 years, the majority are females (95%) and mothers (85.9%). 86% perceived safety in the hospitalization of the child, 17% risk by phlebitis, 8.6% adverse reactions to the medication and 7.4% confusion in the patient, while, in a lesser degree, 2.4% perceived falls, infections and pressure sores. In a greater proportion, the reported risk of phlebitis was 21.5%, 19% falls, 11% infections, 10% adverse reactions to medication and 8.6% confusion in the patient. For the caregivers, 60.2% explain the procedures, 59% consider prompt medical care, communication is clear for 70%, 58.3% are on the alert of detecting possible risks, 75.5% follows the given recommendations, 70.5% trust the professionals and 63.2% handles specific situations from the hospitalization. Conclusions: The caregivers felt safe, knew and kept informed about the risks and the reason for the hospitalization of the child; also, their perception about the safety conditions allowed to identify trust in the professional that assists in the pediatric hospitalization. It was found that phlebitis, reactions to medication and confusion in the patients were the risks with greater occurrence.