Evaluating a patient safety course for undergraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Background: Although it has long been recognised that prelicensure education is essential for preparing nurses with the necessary patient safety competencies, patient safety education tends to be inadequately addressed in nursing curricula in South Korea and elsewhere. Aim: This study examined the effectiveness of a recently developed 8-week standalone course on patient safety by comparing the patient safety competencies, knowledge, and attitudes of students who attended and did not attend the course, after controlling for baseline levels of each outcome measure. Methods: The study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a non-equivalent compari- son group, with 40 undergraduate nursing students in the intervention group, and 67 in the comparison group. Outcomes included the total score and six subscale scores measured with the Health Professional Education in Patients Safety Survey, and the Patient Safety Attitude scale developed by the WHO pa- tient safety program. Additionally, there was an objective measure of patient safety knowledge using 15 multiple-choice questions. Findings: After adjusting for baseline scores, Time 2 scores on all outcome measures were significantly higher in the intervention group than the comparison group, indicating the intervention’s effectiveness. We found that the largest effect of the course accrued to patient safety knowledge. Overall, the students’ assessment of the course was highly positive. Discussion: Our patient safety course could be a model for teaching patient safety in undergraduate nursing curriculum. Conclusion: This study shows the potential for a standalone patient safety course to increase undergrad- uate nursing students’ patient safety competencies, knowledge, and attitudes towards patient safety.