Patient safety and its relationship with specific self-efficacy, competence, and resilience among nursing students: A quantitative study

Abstract

Background: Patient safety is a relevant subject in the nursing curriculum. Each university programs patient safety teaching and practical training differently. However, few studies have sought to explore the relationship between patient safety as perceived by nursing students and other important psychosocial competencies in the nursing curriculum, such as self-efficacy, competence, and resilience.

Objectives: To analyze differential patient safety integration into three nursing education programs, and to assess agreement levels regarding patient safety climate, students' knowledge of patient safety and correlations with specific self-efficacy, competence and resilience.

Methods: Participants were 647 undergraduate students from three universities. Patient safety climate and knowledge of patient safety (good praxis) were measured using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture for nursing students, and other psychosocial variables were also analyzed using other instruments: specific self-efficacy, perceived competence and resilience. Nursing education programs and patient safety climate were analyzed using the Rwg(j) and ICC measures of inter-rater agreement across different academic levels.

Results: The ICC and Rwg indexes revealed high inter-rate agreement in all three universities. Differences were observed between Univ-2 and Univ-3 in patient safety climate scores and agreement values between academic levels. Differences in good praxis were found when academic levels were compared in Univ1-and Univ-2. Patient safety climate was found to correlate significantly with the psychosocial variables studied, but only in Univ-1.

Conclusions: Perceived patient safety climate differs between universities and academic levels. This competency is related to self-efficacy, competence and resilience, which endorses the assessment of patient safety integration from a broader perspective.

Keywords: Competence; HSOPS-NS; Nursing education programs; Patient safety climate; Patient safety knowledge; Resilience; Specific self-efficacy.