Undergraduate Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Patient Safety: a Qualitative Study

Undergraduate nursing education is an important starting point for promoting patient safety in the areas of knowledge, attitude, and skills in the preparation of future nurses. Nursing students are considered an integral and necessary component of the health care system. Therefore, exposing them to the concept of patient safety will help new graduates in the workplace to become ambassadors for promoting a culture of safety which will be key to reducing patient mortality and the level of adverse events actions.The purpose of this research is to investigate the attitudes of nursing students towards patient safety. A qualitative study was conducted with audio-recorded, face-to-face, semistructured interviews lasting an average of 15 min.The "under study" population consists of students of the Nursing Department of the University of Thessaly and was obtained by convenience sampling.The number of interviews (n = 17) conducted was determined after data saturation was reached. From the responses of the participants, important conclusions about patient safety emerge. The term patient safety mainly refers to the protection of the patient at a physical and psychological level, including falls, medication errors, and other risks. Factors affecting patient safety include staff training, working conditions, and collaboration. Nurse education is highlighted as important in preparing for safe care. Finally, reporting and recording errors are considered vital to improving the quality of care, although many factors such as fear dominate the decision to report errors. Overall, patient safety is a vital aspect of nursing practice and requires professional education, collaboration, and commitment to error reporting.