Patient safety educational interventions: A systematic review with recommendations for nurse educators.
Seung Eun Lee, Brenna L Morse, Na Won Kim
PMID 34047058WHAT IT FOUND
Patient safety training for nursing students produced mixed results.
While some courses improved reported competencies and systems thinking, others showed no significant change in attitudes or knowledge. No study measured actual behaviour change or patient harm, leaving evidence for effective curriculum design inconclusive.
Key findings
01Seven studies were identified, all using pre- and post-test designs, with only two including control groups.
02Interventions yielded mixed outcomes: some showed significant improvements in patient safety competency scores, while others found no significant differences in attitudes or knowledge compared to controls.
03None of the included studies examined behaviour changes as an effect of the interventions; all relied on self-reported questionnaires.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only seven studies were included, limiting the generalisability of the findings. All studies relied on self-reported outcomes or knowledge tests; none measured actual behaviour change or patient safety outcomes. Five of the seven studies lacked a control group, making it difficult to attribute changes solely to the intervention. Significant heterogeneity in study designs, intervention durations, and outcome measures prevented meta-analysis. The review was limited to English-language publications.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests. The study received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the mixed results as evidence that patient safety training is ineffective or effective for clinical practice. The studies measured students' self-reported perceptions and knowledge, not their actual behaviour with patients or patient outcomes. Therefore, this review cannot inform how to improve patient safety in clinical settings, only how nursing students perceive their own learning.