Improving students' safety practice behaviors through a simulation-based learning experience.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Simulation

Background:

• Undergraduate nursing education must equip students with robust patient safety knowledge.
• Assessing student comfort with safety principles and error disclosure is crucial for effective practice.
• Clinical simulation offers a controlled environment to practice safety protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a safety-focused clinical simulation on senior undergraduate nursing students' perceptions and comfort with patient safety.
• To determine if simulation-based learning influences students' willingness to report and disclose errors.
• To assess changes in students' understanding of safety principles post-simulation.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 175 senior undergraduate nursing students participated in a safety-focused clinical simulation.
• The Healthcare Professionals Patient Safety Assessment (HPPSA) was administered pre- and post-simulation.
• Statistical analysis, including t-tests, was used to compare pre- and post-intervention scores on the HPPSA.

Main Results:

• A statistically significant increase in mean scores was observed for HPPSA Part 2 post-simulation (p = 0.006).
• Students reported higher comfort levels in disclosing and reporting errors after the simulation experience.
• The simulation effectively addressed perceptions related to errors and safety in healthcare settings.

Conclusions:

• Clinical simulation-based experiences are effective teaching strategies for enhancing undergraduate nursing students' comfort with patient safety.
• Simulation may improve students' confidence in reporting and investigating healthcare errors.
• This approach supports the development of a safety-conscious nursing workforce.