Implementation of patient safety centers and the healthcare-associated infections

To verify the implementation of the Patient Safety Center and its relation to the control of Healthcare-associated Infections in hospitals of Natal.

Quantitative, cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 28 infection control professionals from 12 hospitals. Data were collected between February and August 2017, through a semi-structured questionnaire.

The Patient Safety Center was implemented in nine hospitals. Among the protocols implemented, the patient identification (66.70%), hand hygiene (50%) and fall prevention (50%) were the most important ones. Hospitals with the Center affirmed they develop patient safety training activities together with the professionals. 44.5% reported effective communication.

Although the actions implemented do not fully comply with the recommendations of the National Health Surveillance Agency, most of these actions are directly related to the control of infections in services.