Incorporating a Patient Safety and Quality Course Into the Nursing Curriculum: An Assessment of Student Gains
Fasih Ali Ahmed, Roha Ahmad Choudhary, Hamza Khan, Farwa Ayub, Syed Sabih ul Hassan, Tahir Munir, Fozia Asif, Khairulnissa Ajani, Mehtab Jaffer, Zahra Tharani, Hanan J. Aboumatar, Adil Haider, Asad Latif- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Leadership and Management
Background
Training nursing students on quality and patient safety (PS) is crucial to ensuring safe healthcare practices given the key role nurses play on the healthcare team. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of quality and PS course on the knowledge, and system thinking of students at different stages of the undergraduate nursing course.
Methods
A 4.5-day quality improvement and PS course was conducted at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery for 146 second- and 139 fourth-year students. Students’ knowledge, self-assessment of knowledge and skills, and system thinking were assessed using pretest and posttest.
Results
Of the total of 20 points, the course significantly improved students’ knowledge by a mean of 4.91 points for second-year students (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.32–5.51) and 3.46 points for fourth-year students (95% CI, 2.90–4.02) between pretest and posttest. For systems thinking, the Systems Thinking Scale scores increased by 0.41 points (95% CI, 0.29–0.52) for second-year students and 0.33 points (95% CI, 0.22–0.44) for fourth-year students out of the total of 5 points. The self-assessment scores significantly increased on postcourse assessment for second (
Conclusions
There was a significant increase in nursing students’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and system thinking after participating in this short PS course. Replication at a national level may improve safety knowledge and skills among nursing students with subsequent gains in the safety of healthcare delivery in Pakistan.