The influence of situation awareness training on nurses' confidence about patient safety skills: A prospective cohort study

Background: Several studies report that patient safety skills, especially non-technical skills, receive scant attention in nursing curricula. Hence, there is a compelling reason to incorporate material that enhances nontechnical skills, such as situation awareness, in nursing curricula in order to assist in the reduction of healthcare related adverse events. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to: 1) understand final year nursing students' confidence in their patient safety skills; and 2) examine the impact of situation awareness training on final year nursing students' confidence in their patient safety skills. Methods: Participants were enrolled from a convenience sample comprising final year nursing students at a Western Australia university. Self-reported confidence in patient safety skills was assessed with the Health Professional in Patient Safety Survey before and after the deliver of a situation awareness educational intervention. Pre/post educational intervention differences were examined by repeated measures ANOVA. Results: No significant differences in confidence about patient safety skills were identified within settings (class/clinical). However, confidence in patient safety skills significantly decreased between settings i.e. nursing students lost confidence after clinical placements. Conclusion The educational intervention delivered in this study did not seem to improve confidence in patient safety skills, but substantial ceiling effects may have confounded the identification of such improvement. Further studies are required to establish whether the findings of this study can be generalised to other university nursing cohorts.