Determinants of clinical nurses’ patient safety competence: a systematic review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionPatient safety has become a fundamental element of healthcare quality. However, despite the ongoing efforts of various organisations, patient safety issues remain a problem in the healthcare system. Given the crucial role of nurses in the healthcare process, improving patient safety competence among clinical nurses is important. In order to promote patient safety competence, it is essential to identify and strengthen the relevant factors. This protocol is for a systematic review aiming to examine and categorise the factors influencing patient safety competence among clinical nurses.Methods and analysisThis review protocol is based on the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Methodology for Systematic Reviews of Effectiveness and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols. Four electronic databases, including Ovid-MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and EMBASE, will be used for the systematic review. After consulting with a medical librarian, we designed our search terms to include subject heading terms and related terms in the titles and abstracts. Databases from January 2012 to August 2023 will be searched.Two reviewers will independently conduct the search and extract data including the author(s), country, study design, sample size, clinical setting, clinical experience, tool used to measure patient safety competence and factors affecting patient safety competence. The quality of the included studies will be assessed using the JBI critical appraisal tool. Because heterogeneity of the results is anticipated, the data will be narratively synthesised and divided into two categories: individual and organisational factors.Ethics and disseminationEthical review is not relevant to this study. The findings will be presented at professional conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42023422486.