Factors Influencing Hospital Nurses' Patient Safety Competency: A Systematic Review
Jong‐Hyuk Park, Nam‐Ju Lee, Hanseulgi Lee, Nari KimABSTRACT
Background
Recognizing the critical role of nurses in patient safety, various organizations have made sustained efforts to strengthen nurses' patient safety competency. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews examining the factors influencing hospital nurses' patient safety competency.
Aim
To analyze the factors influencing patient safety competency among hospital nurses from both individual and organizational perspectives.
Methods
This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guideline and the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for systematic reviews. Searches were conducted in four electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Embase) from January 2012 to March 2025. Due to the heterogeneity of the included studies, synthesis without meta‐analysis using a vote‐counting strategy was conducted to organize the findings.
Results
The included studies examined 19 individual factors and five organizational factors influencing hospital nurses' patient safety competency. Individual factors were grouped into four domains: (1) demographic factors (age, gender, education level, work experience, and unit tenure), (2) job‐related factors (professional qualification, employment status, and number of night shifts), (3) patient safety training and experience (participation in patient safety training, patient safety activities, and error reporting), and (4) other competencies (systems thinking, critical thinking, reflective thinking, professionalism, safety values, safety control, self‐determined motivation, and proactive behavior). Organizational factors included organizational climate, psychological safety, psychological support, teamwork, and department type.
Conclusion
By categorizing influencing factors at the individual and organizational levels, this systematic review clarified the understanding of patient safety competency. Strategies that support nurses' individual characteristics and create supportive organizational environments can strengthen patient safety competency and promote safer care.
Clinical Relevance
Healthcare organizations should tailor educational programs to nurses' experience and competency and foster safety‐oriented environments that encourage teamwork, psychological safety, nonpunitive reporting, and learning from safety events.
Trial Registration
PROSPERO: CRD42023422486