Risk management practices developed by health professionals at the intensive care unit: a scoping review

Abstract

Objective: To map and identify risk management practices developed by health professionals in the intensive care unit. Method: Scoping review following the JBI Institute Reviewer’s Manual. In the initial search, the MeSH ‘health personnel’, ‘risk management’ and ‘intensive care unit’ were used to define the final search strategy, composed of a combination of two hundred and twenty-two keywords. The search was carried out in scientific and grey databases, with no time limitation. Information about the year, country of origin, objective, practices performed, practices neglected, protocols developed, professionals involved, aspects of the method, results and conclusions related to the scoping review were extracted. Results: The primary selection was composed of 10,349,624 texts, of which 94 were read in full. Then, 79 studies were (40 did not respond to the objective, 38 were unavailable and 1 was written in French). Thus, the final selection was composed of 15 articles. Among the main practices performed by health professionals, the one that stood out the most was hand hygiene. However, this practice is still very neglected in this environment, which leads to greater risk for patients and ICU professionals. In addition, high workload, lack of discussion about errors and lack of training were cited as actions that directly affect the quality of the health service. Conclusions and implications for practice: It is  important to prioritize risk management in the ICU in an efficient and quality manner in order to avoid or minimize adverse events and provide comprehensive, qualified and responsible assistance during the clinical evolution of each patient.