Instruments for measuring patient safety competencies in nursing: a scoping review.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Patient Safety Research

Background:

• Patient safety competencies are crucial for high-quality healthcare.
• Valid instruments are needed to develop nursing practices and collaboration in patient safety.
• Measuring these competencies is essential for improving healthcare outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically identify and review instruments used to measure patient safety competencies in nursing.
• To provide an overview of existing measurement tools for nurses' patient safety skills, attitudes, knowledge, communication, teamwork, and error management.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive scoping review was conducted.
• Searches were performed across seven major databases (Cochran Library, Epistemonikos, Eric, Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science).
• Inclusion criteria focused on English peer-reviewed papers from January 2010 to April 2021, detailing instruments for nursing patient safety competencies.

Main Results:

• Out of 1,426 initially identified papers, 32 met the inclusion criteria.
• Nine distinct instruments were identified, with the 'Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey' being the most frequently used.
• The instruments covered domains such as skills, attitudes, knowledge, communication, teamwork, and error management, with established content validity and reliability, though sensitivity and responsiveness were less frequently assessed.

Conclusions:

• There has been a significant increase in instruments measuring nursing patient safety competencies over the past decade.
• Future instrument development should incorporate the ethical dimensions of patient safety.
• Evaluating instrument responsiveness is recommended to effectively track changes and improvements in patient safety over time.