[Clinical risk prevention by coordinator nurses, knowledge and organizational tools]

Coordinator nurses have a pivotal role to play in clinical risk prevention. They can and must influence the design of work processes to promote a culture of safety through the use of checklists, protocols, decision support systems, and by improving access to information, standardising tasks, and reducing the number of "hand-overs" and tasks performed relying only on one's memory. In order to evaluate knowledge and use of organisational tools for clinical risk prevention by coordinator nurses, an exploratory questionnaire survey was performed at a university teaching hospital in central Italy. Approximately 100 coordinators were asked to participate in the study. The aims of the survey were to assess the extent to which certain clinical governance tools are being used in individual hospital departments, evaluate knowledge of organisational processes that lead to errors and of measures, pertaining to nursing, that are considered to be effective in reducing adverse events. Wide differences were found among departments in the use of risk management strategies. Results also show that many nurse coordinators are not clearly aware of their organisational and professional responsibilities in clinical risk management. Though many professionals are well qualified and knowledgeable, only few are prepared educationally to manage clinical risk effectively when delivering patient care. For this reason, leadership should be encouraged and sustained, through educational courses and the promotion of a shift towards a culture of safety substantiated by scientific evidence.