Abstract
The main purpose of this article is to study what nurses consider most important when focusing on patient safety. The study uses a qualitative design based on focus group interviews with nurses who work with acute, critically ill patients in hospitals. Two hospitals were chosen. The data collection was conducted in October and November 2002. The research comprised 23 nurses with specialist degrees, including one man, divided into four groups. The criterion for inclusion in the study was being a nurse with advanced training in anesthesiology, intensive care, or operating-room nursing. The nurses were between 35 and 61 years old. The job experience as nursing specialist varied from ¾ to 32 years. The findings show that the informants were concerned with patients' safety, and they placed a considerable emphasis on their personal responsibility for safety. The informants discussed safety in relation to themselves and their colleagues, and to a lesser degree with respect to their level in the organizational structure. The nurses were concerned with themselves, their own attitudes, and efficient teamwork with other groups of professionals. Cooperation requires speaking the same language. Different cultural and linguistic backgrounds can be problematic. They had written procedures that were not based on higher national or international standards. Both standards and individual judgment were evaluated as important for patient safety.