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. 2021 Mar 18;60(2):114-123.
doi: 10.2478/sjph-2021-0017. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Nursing Students' Knowledge of Patient Safety and Development of Competences Over their Academic Years: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Valentina Bressan  1 , Giulia Causero  1 , Simone Stevanin  2 , Lucia Cadorin  1 , Antonietta Zanini  1 , Giampiera Bulfone  1 , Alvisa Palese  1
Affiliations

Nursing Students' Knowledge of Patient Safety and Development of Competences Over their Academic Years: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Valentina Bressan et al. Zdr Varst. .

Abstract
in English, Sinhala

Introduction: Future nurses should possess the knowledge and competences necessary to ensure patient safety. However, little evidence is available on the way in which students learn patient safety-related principles over time. This study explored the progress of a cohort of Italian undergraduate nursing students as they acquired patient safety knowledge and competences from time of enrolment to graduation.

Methods: A longitudinal study carried out between 2015 and 2018 enrolled a cohort of 90 nursing students from two Italian Bachelor of Nursing Science Degree Courses at the Udine University, Italy. The students were followed-up on an annual basis and data collection was performed three times: at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years. The validated Italian version of the Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey tool was used to collect data.

Results: At the end of the 1st year, students reported an average 4.19 out of 5 patient safety knowledge acquired in classrooms (CI 95%, 4.11-4.28), which was stable at the end of the 2nd (4.16; CI 95%, 4.06-4.26) and 3rd years (4.26; CI 95%, 4.16-4.32) and no statistical differences emerged over the years. With regard to the competences acquired in clinical settings, at the end of the 1st year the students reported an average 4.28 out of 5 (CI 95%, 4.20-4.37), which decreased significantly at the end of the 2nd year (4.15; CI 95%, 4.07-4.23; p=0.02) and increased at the end of the 3rd year (4.37; CI 95%, 4.27-4.47; p<0.01).

Conclusions: Nursing students' competences in patient safety issues increases over time, while their knowledge remains stable. Students are more vulnerable at the end of the 1st year, when they seem to be overconfident about patient-safety issues.

Uvod: Bodoče medicinske sestre bi morale imeti znanje in kompetence, ki so potrebne za zagotovitev varnosti pacientov. Vendar ni veliko znanja o tem, kako naj bi se študentje v času naučili načel, povezanih z varnostjo pacientov. Ta študija je raziskala progresivni napredek znanja in kompetenc kohorte italijanskih študentov zdravstvene nege o varnosti pacientov od vpisa do diplome.

Metode: Longitudinalna študija med leti 2015 in 2018 je zajela 90 študentov zdravstvene nege dveh italijanskih tečajev dodiplomskega študija Univerze v Vidmu v Italiji. Študentje so bili ocenjeni vsako leto na podlagi podatkov ob koncu prvega, drugega in tretjega letnika. Ti podatki so bili izbrani na podlagi italijanske verzije raziskave Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey.

Rezultati: Ob koncu prvega letnika je bilo povprečje znanja študentov ocenjeno na stopnji 4.19 od 5 glede varnosti pacientov, ki so ga pridobili v učilnicah (CI 95 %, 4.11–4.28). To povprečje se ni spremenilo niti ob koncu drugega (4.16; CI 95 %, 4.06–4.26) niti po tretjem letniku (4.26; CI 95 %, 4.16–4.32) V teh letih torej ni prišlo do statističnih razlik. Na področju kliničnih kompetenc je bilo povprečje znanja študentov ocenjeno s 4,28 od 5 na koncu prvega leta (CI 95 %, 4.20–4.37) in se je ob koncu drugega leta znatno znižalo (4.15; CI 95 %, 4.07–4.23; p = 0.02). Povečalo se je ob koncu 3. leta (4.37; CI 95 %, 4.27–4.47; p < 0.01).

Zaključki: Kompetentnost študentov zdravstvene nege na področju varnosti pacientov se sčasoma povečuje, njihovo znanje pa ostaja nespremenjeno. Študenti so bolj nebogljeni ob koncu prvega letnika, ko so verjetno preveč samozavestni glede vprašanj o varnosti pacientov.

Keywords: competences; knowledge; longitudinal studies; nursing education; nursing students; patient safety.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest The authors declare that no conflicts of interest exist with regard to this study.

Figures

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Diagram 1
Participant flow recruitment and inclusion.
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