Support of Nurse Managers for Nurses Involved in Adverse Patient Events: Working on Patient Safety Tasks as a Team

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the structure and processes of nurse manager support for their staff nurses after adverse patient events. Participants were 26 nurse managers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed by a grounded theory approach. The core category that emerged from this study was “working on patient safety tasks as a team.” The other categories that emerged from the data included “sharing information and discussing the events with staff nurse,” “perceiving the reactions of all team members,” “assuring a sense of security,” “directing nurses on how to address difficulties,” “threatening patients safety,” and “supporting nurses involved in overcoming their experience.” These findings suggested the psychological impact of adverse patients events on staff nurses, and the necessity not only to work on a task-oriented approach to assure patients safety, but also to assure a sense of security for all staff nurses.