Patient Safety Competence and Attitude towards Patient Safety Policies among students Nurses in Kerala: A Cross-sectional Survey

Abstract

Introduction: The provision of safer and higher quality care is emphasized for nursing professionals. The purpose of this study was to identify the attitude towards patient safety policies among nursing students, to find the association of patient safety competence score with selected variables of students and to compare the patient safety competence of nursing students in classroom and clinical setting. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among two self financing colleges of Kerala. 332nursing students aged between 16 to 22 years were selected by convenient sampling technique. Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) was used to collect data on patient safety competence. Attitude towards patient safety policy was measured using structured attitude scale on patient safety policies. Results: Student nurses’ theoretical competence patient safety was significantly higher 22(18,25) (p<0.001) than clinical competence 21(17,24). Hospital incident report was considered as the final step for correction of error by 78.61% of the respondents and only (29.52%) agreed with the statements expressing a view that non- punitive response to error is crucial to overall patient safety. Theoretical competence on patient safety was associated with course of study (p=0.007) and year of study (p=0.007) whereas year of study (p=0.041) and clinical experience provided in the course (p=0.004) were the significant factors associated with clinical competence on patient safety among student nurses. Conclusion: The findings showed that significant lacunae exist between clinical and theory competence with regard to patient safety among nursing students. The perception on safety communication and reporting also varied among different dimensions. This findings suggest a need to sensitize students regarding patient safety policies.