SURGICAL PATIENT SAFETY: NURSING CARE PLAN OUTCOMES BASED ON A STANDARDIZED TERMINOLOGY

Introduction: Patient safety remains an essential concern in health care delivery and Nurses��� input for its achievement is of crucial importance. Standardized nursing terminologies have been described in literature contributing to effectively address issues related to safety and quality of the care provided. Nursing process has been embedded into these classifications and consist an integral conceptual framework for their implementation. Aim: The purpose of the current article is to describe the safety-related outcomes of a nursing care plan for patients undergoing surgery or other invasive procedures, according to the Perioperative Nursing Data Set (PNDS).Material & Method: A narrative literature review was conducted based on articles retrieved from scientific databases (PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar) with specific key-words both in Greek and in English language, a hand search of books and from references on the internet. Results: Patients��� safety based on prevention of potential risks or injuries and complications is the main goal and priority for perioperative nursing. Thirteen outcomes in the domain of safety have been classified and coded into the PNDS, in order to identify nursing diagnoses that guide the development of an individualized nursing care plan for patients undergoing surgery. Conclusions: An effective nursing leadership and the organization of targeted and properly structured educational activities are prerequisites for the implementation of a standardized nursing terminology in clinical practice. Moreover, strengthening professional development of the perioperative nurses is ensured and the establishment of the evidence based practice is achieved.