A study for the evaluation of a safety education program me for nursing students: discussions using the QSEN safety competencies

Abstract

Background To respond to calls for improvements in nursing education in Japan, a group of faculties of a baccalaureate nursing programme has made an initial attempt to incorporate quality and safety education for nurses safety competency into three related courses, two sophomore level courses and one senior level course. Aims To evaluate the learning experiences in a senior level course on medical safety in order to identify learning outcomes in terms of areas of strengths and areas for further improvements of the course and a system-wide implementation of quality and safety education for nurses competencies in the future. Methods Fourteen students who met the criteria had volunteered to participate in one of the two 40-minute focus group interviews. During the interviews, participants were asked questions as to what they have learned and how they may use that knowledge in the future. The sessions were tape recorded, the data were transcribed and analysed using the content analysis method according to Berelson. Results Eight categories of learning related to medical safety were identified, including awareness of own risks for errors and plans to reduce such risks. These categories of learning were thought to have achieved the level equal to 75% of quality and safety education for nurses knowledge, skills and attitudes items. Conclusions The current content and methods for this course identified strengths to be continued, with some areas of improvement for the future for further adoption of quality and safety education for nurses competencies into the entire curriculum.