Major educational factors associated with nursing adverse events by nursing students undergoing clinical practice: A descriptive study

Background: As the main group of healthcare providers in hospitals, nurses have more frequent contacts than any other clinician and thus are in a better position to improve patient safety. With the purpose of cultivating competent nurses, nursing educators have the responsibility to promote patient safety. A better understanding of educational factors affecting nursing adverse events by nursing students undergoing clinical practice can help nursing educators find appropriate ways to fulfil their duty. Objective: To examine the status quo of nursing adverse events and to discuss the major educational factors concerned in different regions of China. Design: A descriptive study design was undertaken in 2018. Participants and setting: A convenience sample of 1173 nursing students undergoing clinical practice was recruited from 22 hospitals in different regions of China. Methods: The Chinese version of the Medical Student Safety Attitudes and Professionalism Survey (MSSAPS) was administered to and demographic and professional data were collected from clinical nursing students after obtaining informed consent. Results: The incidence of nursing adverse events in clinical student nurses was 17.8%. Approximately 87.01% of nursing adverse events were near miss. The positive response rate of safety attitudes and professionalism by clinical nursing students ranged from 57.5% to 96.9%. Logistic analysis indicated that gender, educational level, hospital regions, safety culture and professional behavior experience dimensions were the major factors influencing nursing adverse events. Conclusion: Attention should be paid to the situation in which clinical nursing students are prone to nursing adverse events. Cooperation between nursing colleges and hospitals should be strengthened to promote patient safety in clinical nursing students. We suggest that nursing educators implement patient safety education in both theoretical and practical teaching and use multiple forms, especially simulation-based training, to strengthen safe nursing behavior to reduce the incidence of nursing adverse events.

Automated summary

A study in China investigated the status quo of nursing adverse events and identified major educational factors influencing these events, including gender, educational level, hospital regions, safety culture, and professional behavior experience dimensions. It was suggested that nursing educators should strengthen patient safety education in both theoretical and practical teaching, particularly through simulation-based training, to reduce the incidence of nursing adverse events among clinical nursing students.