PERCEPTION OF NURSING INTERNSHIP STUDENTS REGARDING THEIR COMPETENCE IN PATIENT SAFETY IN PRIVATE SECTOR HOSPITALS OF PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Background: Nursing school emphasizes that to keep safe, nursing interns should have enough skills and knowledge to give quality care to patients. In Pakistan, however, the difference between theory and practice is clearly visible especially in under-developed countries that suffer from limited resources and knowledge to achieve effective patient safety measures. To evaluate the competencies perceived by nursing interns in patient safety areas.

Methods: A detailed cross-sectional study was performed comprising of 153 nursing interns working in private educational hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan. The validated Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) was used to collect the data. The competency levels were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the effect of structured patient safety education was analyzed with independent sample t-test in SPSS.

Results: In a survey of 153 nursing internship students, it was observed that competency in patient safety was good among 72.5%, moderate among 22.9% and deficient in 4.6% of the respondents. The highest mean scores were for Overall Confidence in Patient Safety Education (8.24), Communication Effectively (7.95) and Teamwork (7.91). The lowest mean score was for Managing Safety Risk (7.78). Students who had formal learning in patient safety had significantly greater scores in all categories (p < 0.05). The instrument had high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88).

Conclusion: Nursing interns perceived themselves to be well competent in patient safety, especially teamwork and communication. Formal education about patient safety greatly improves competency and highlights the need for patient safety to be integrated into nursing education in a methodical way. There is a need to strengthen clinical learning in risk management and encourage experiential learning to overcome the gaps between theory and practice, and to enhance patient safety. 

Keywords: Competency, Communication, Nursing Internship students, Patient safety