Transferência de cuidado realizada pelos profissionais de saúde em um serviço de urgência e emergência

Abstract

The transference of care (handoff or handover) consists in temporarily or permanently transferring the responsibility of the patient care to another person or group of professionals. The objective of this study was to analyze the transfer of patient care in the daily life of healthcare professionals of an emergency room and its influence on the quality of care. This is a case study of a qualitative nature, referenced on the daily life of Michel de Certeau's, especially regarding the concepts of tactics and strategy. We conducted the study in an emergency room of a large public hospital, located in the municipality of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Thirty professionals of the emergency room among physicians, nurses, nursing technicians, stretcher bearer, social workers, psychologists, and dental surgeons (PS) directly involved in the transfer of patient care partook of the study. We collected the data through individual interviews using a semi-structured script, observation, and documentary analysis. We used the data saturation criterion to close the interviews recorded, transcribed, and submitted to the Thematic Content Analysis. The data collection occurred after the approval of the project by the Ethics Committee of the UFMG (COEP/UFMG) and the Committee of Ethics and Research of the hospital under the decision no 1,519,784 and 1,559,717, respectively. The participants signed the Term of Free and Clarified Consent (TFCC). The results were organized in five thematic categories: "Understanding the perspective of the professionals of an emergency room on the transfer of patient care: multiple perspectives"; "Effective communication: strategies and tactics experienced in the daily life of the professionals"; "Factors that interfere in teamwork and communication during a handover"; "Teamwork in the daily life of the professionals and reflexes on the handover"; "Care centered on the patient and family". The data revealed aspects of the daily life of the ER, as well as the profile of the interviewees, subjects who, besides the established norms, use tactics to overcome difficulties and show commitment to the assistance. The handover is understood in different ways by the professionals and is more closely connected to the transfer of information. However, there is also a concern for the transfer of responsibilities and care continuity. We identified strategies to define the flow of care and standardize the handover, highlighting the Manchester protocol, electronic medical record, Situation- Background-Assessment-Recommendation (SBAR), and passometer, as well as tactics (the real acting) revealed by the professionals. Mild skills such as assertiveness, listening, and negotiation are shown as tactics to increase the effectiveness of communication. The nurse appears as a critical piece for the work of the multiprofessional team and handover organization. We identified factors related to the environment, structure, processes, and individuals that interfere in the communication and teamwork during the handover. Teamwork in the ER is perceived more as a grouping than integration, impairing the handover. Care is performed according to the standards and definitions of the professionals based more on the hospital´s reality and less on the needs of the patients and their family, which compromises patient handover and the safety of this setting. Keywords: Patient Responsibility Transfer. Patient Care Team. Emergency Medical Services. Patient safety.