OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the potential association between nursing workload and patient safety in the medical and surgical inpatient units of a teaching hospital. METHOD: a mixed method strategy (sequential explanatory design). RESULTS: the initial quantitative stage of the study suggest that increases in the number of patients assigned to each nursing team lead to increased rates of bed-related falls, central line-associated bloodstream infections, nursing staff turnover, and absenteeism. During the subsequent qualitative stage of the research, the nursing team stressed medication administration, bed baths, and patient transport as the aspects of care that have the greatest impact on workload and pose the greatest hazards to patient, provider, and environment safety. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrated significant associations between nursing workload and patient safety. We observed that nursing staff with fewer patients presented best results of care-related and management-related patient safety indicators. In addition, the tenets of ecological and restorative thinking contributed to the understanding of some of the aspects in this intricate relationship from the standpoint of nursing providers. They also promoted a participatory approach in this study.

Objective: to describe the use of the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to appraise and to strengthen the methodological rigor of mixed methods studies in nursing. Method: a theoretical essay was used to describe the application of Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to support the development and assessment of mixed methods research in nursing. Four mixed methods articles in nursing were purposely chosen and evaluated based on the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool criteria. Results: Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool is a tool for evaluating primary mixed methods studies based on five evaluation criteria: 1) justification for adopting mixed methods methodology; 2) integration between the quantitative and qualitative components; 3) interpretation of integrated findings of quantitative and qualitative data; 4) presentation of divergences between quantitative and qualitative results; and 5) compliance with the methodological rigor of each individual approach in mixed methods research. Conclusion: Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool is an instrumental resource that can be used to appraise mixed methods research and strengthen the methodological rigor in planning and conducting future mixed studies in nursing research.

OBJECTIVE To identify and analyze available literature on care transition strategies in Latin American countries. METHODS Integrative literature review that included studies indexed in PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, SCOPUS databases, and the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), published in Portuguese, Spanish or English, between 2010 and 2017. RESULTS Eleven articles were selected and the strategies were grouped into components of care transition: discharge planning, advanced care planning, patient education and promotion of self-management, medication safety, complete communication of information, and outpatient follow-up. These strategies were carried out by multidisciplinary team members, in which nurses play a leading role in promoting safe care transitions. CONCLUSIONS Care transition activities are generally initiated very close to patient discharge, this differs from recommendations of care transition programs and models, which suggest implementing care transition strategies from the time of admission until discharge.

OBJECTIVE To describe the workload of the nursing team and relate it with patient safety outcomes in clinical and surgical inpatient units of a university hospital. METHOD Cross-sectional study, carried out from October 2013 to September 2015. The factor under study was the workload, expressed as the ratio between the mean number of patients and the number of nursing professionals in 24 hours and in the day shifts. RESULTS The sample consisted of 157,481 patients, 502 nursing professionals and 264 observations of safety outcomes. The ratios of patients per nurse and per nursing technician in day shifts indicate a mean estimate of 14-15 and 5-6 patients per professional, respectively. There was a significant association between the workloads in the inpatient units and average length of stay, urinary infection related to invasive procedure and the satisfaction of patients with nursing care. CONCLUSION The increase in the workload of the nursing team had an impact on quality of care and safety for patients. An adequate staffing promotes a safer care environment.

Objective: to perform the adaptation, content validation and semantic analysis of a Multidisciplinary Checklist used in rounds in Intensive Care Units for adults. Method: a methodological study, consisting of three stages: Adaptation of the checklist, performed by one of the authors; Content validation, performed by seven judges/health professionals from a public teaching hospital in Paraná; and Semantic analysis, performed in a philanthropic hospital in the same state. Agreement of the judges and of the target audience in the content validation and semantic analysis stages was calculated using the Content Validity Index and the Agreement Index, respectively, with a minimum acceptable value of 0.80. Results: in the content validation stage, the checklist obtained a total agreement of 0.84. Of the 16 items included in the instrument, 11 (68.75%) were readjusted and four (25%) were excluded for not reaching the minimum agreement. The readjusted items referred to sedation; analgesia; nutrition; glycemic control; headboard elevation; gastric ulcer prophylaxis; prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism; indwelling urinary catheter, central venous catheter; protective mechanical ventilation and spontaneous breathing test. Regarding the items excluded, they referred to the cuff pressure of the orotracheal tube and to Nursing care measures such as taking the patient out of the bed, pressure injury prophylaxis, and ophthalmoprotection. In the semantic analysis, the final agreement of the instrument's items was 0.96. Conclusion: after two evaluation rounds by the judges, testing in critically-ill patients and high inter-evaluator agreement index, the Multidisciplinary Checklist is found with validated content suitable for use in rounds in intensive care.

Objective: To evaluate and compare the nursing practice environments in Intensive Care Units of a public and private hospital and the prevalence of burnout among nursing professionals. Method: Cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach to the data. The data collection took place between October 2018 and March 2019, and it was carried out through a questionnaire with socio-occupational variables and with metrics of intensity. The practice environment was assessed through the Nursing Work Index Revised (NWI-R); and the burnout was assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (IBM). We included professionals with, at least, six months of employment, and those who were on leave or on a fixed-term employment contract were excluded. Results: The sample consisted of 296 professionals. We found Favorable environments in both institutions, however, low results in the subscales autonomy, control and organizational support in the private hospital. The prevalence of burnout among nurses was 2.5% in the public hospital and 9.1% in the private hospital, and among nursing technicians, it was 9.5% and 8.5%, respectively. Conclusion: The control of the environment, autonomy and support were considered critical points, referring to the importance of assessing institutions factors, that can improve the working conditions for the nursing team.