QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN THE MEDICATION PROCESS IN A MOBILE PRE-HOSPITAL EMERGENCY SERVICE
Patient Safety; Quality Improvement; Medication Systems; Emergency Medical Services.
Introduction: The medication process is potentially dangerous and likely to cause harm to the patient, especially in the mobile emergency pre-hospital service. Thus, due to its complexity, carrying out quality management activities, such as improvement cycles, is relevant to strengthening patient safety in health services. Objective: To develop a quality improvement cycle in the medication process in a mobile emergency pre-hospital service. Methodology: Quasi-experimental, before-and-after study, without a control group, with a quantitative approach, through a cycle of quality improvement with problem analysis, intervention and monitoring in a mobile emergency pre-hospital service in January from 2022 to April 2023. The care records of patients in the service's advanced support unit were analyzed and eight criteria were considered to verify the quality of the record related to medication prescription. The results obtained were presented in Pareto Diagrams, in order to highlight the level of improvement and its significance. The project received approval from the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, according to Opinion nº 5.688.192 and CAAE: 62920322.8.0000.5292. Results: In the initial evaluation, criterion C1 was verified with 100% compliance and the other criteria with a low level of quality, with emphasis on C4 and C7 with 0% compliance. In the reassessment of quality, measured 90 days after the interventions, there was a decline in the quality level of C1 of 12% and absolute improvement of 87.5% in the other seven criteria when compared to the initial assessment. Conclusion: Based on the results, the improvement cycle achieved its objective significantly, and proved to be an effective tool in increasing the quality and safety of health services.