Frameworks for Patient Safety in the Nursing Curriculum

Patient safety has recently received a great deal of media coverage. Professional and regulatory agencies have indicated that patient safety education should be provided to health care workers to improve health outcomes. This study's primary purpose was to gain a better understanding of the current status of patient safety awareness among prelicensure nursing students. Data were collected from two samples (N = 150 and 318), and nursing curricula were examined from seven institutions. Measurement integrity studies indicated that patient safety awareness can be measured validly and reliably. Demographic variables were correlated with patient safety awareness. A content analysis found that all of the participating nursing schools included at least three of the six core competencies of the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) (Cronenwett et al., 2007) in their curriculum; one school exhibited all six. Our findings led to conclusions and recommendations for nurse educators and for future research on patient safety education in the nursing curriculum.