Technologies in intensive care: causes of adverse events and implications to nursing

摘要

Objective: to identify the causes of adverse events affecting clients resulting from the use of equipment in intensive care services; to point out the main recommendations for clinical practice to minimize these events and, then, discuss the implications to nursing care. Method: integrative and descriptive review on the SciELO, Medline, LILACS, and PubMed databases. Articles were selected based on the inclusion criteria and the structured instrument was applied. Results: altogether, 11 articles were selected where three evidence units were outstanding: Equipment failure; inadequate use of equipment; and team failure. Permanent education of professionals; evaluation of production and availability of equipment; and use of checklists are recommended. Conclusion: preventing adverse events related to equipment is one of the nursing responsibilities and requires the establishment of defensive barriers to prevent these.