Adverse events witnessed by nursing students during clinical learning experiences: Findings from a longitudinal study

Abstract

No evidence from any longitudinal study design has been reported to date with regard to patient safety (PS) incidents witnessed by nursing students during their training. Therefore, with the aim of closing this gap in available knowledge, a longitudinal study was performed from 2012 to 2015 by involving all nursing students (n = 145) enrolled in two Italian nursing programs. At the end of each academic year, students were invited to report in writing all PS incidents witnessed during their clinical learning experience; the number of days each student spent in their clinical setting was also collected from administrative records. Ninety students were included and 94 incidents were reported: 17 (18.1%) by first year students, 27 (28.7%) by second year students, and 50 (53.2%) by third year students. One third of students did not report any PS incident at the end of each academic year, while only a few reported more than one. The incidence density was 3.8/1000 days of clinical training without statistical differences across academic years. Supporting nursing students by encouraging them to share, discuss, and reflect on their clinical learning experience might increase their confidence in reporting safety incidents.

Workplace violence against nursing interns and patient safety: The multiple mediation effect of professional identity and professional burnout

“…A cross-sectional survey showed that approximately 40%-50% of medical errors are related to nursing interns [5]. In addition, nearly 17%-53.2% of nursing interns reported nursing safety events [6]. Unsafe care can increase morbidity and mortality, additional medical expenses, disability, nosocomial infections, and low healthcare efficiency [7].…”

“…However, when starting their clinical practice, nursing interns are unfamiliar with hospital environments, unskilled in operation, and lack theoretical knowledge and communication skills; these limitations could pose occupational safety hazards (Gorgich et al, 2016 ; Song & Guo, 2019 ; Stevanin et al, 2015 ). Previous studies have shown that approximately 17%–53.2% of nursing interns reported adverse nursing safety events (Stevanin et al, 2018 ), although most are not reported (Stevanin et al, 2018 ). Contrastingly, few nursing interns accept training for preventing and coping with workplace violence.…”

Profiling nursing students’ dishonest behaviour: Classroom versus clinical settings

“…33 In the current study, 26 (5.8%) participants exhibited dishonest behaviour related to the application of therapy and 13 (2.9%) failed to report a patient fall, which is comparable to other similar studies. 13,[34][35][36][37] Stevanin 35 reported that nursing students witnessed or reported a mean of 3.8 patient safety incidents in 1000 days of clinical practice in the hospital, and most of these incidents were related to the application of therapy. In addition, according to Reid-Searl et al, 34 approximately one-third of students were involved in activities which resulted in a therapeutic error.…”

Nursing students’ experiences of patient safety incidents and reporting: A scoping review

“…Types of incidents reported. Stevanin et al [30] described PSI incidence rates that were witnessed or reported by first, second and third year nursing students. Overall, students witnessed or reported 3.8 PSIs per 1000 days of training in a clinical setting and most PSIs were related to medication administration.…”

“…Overall, students witnessed or reported 3.8 PSIs per 1000 days of training in a clinical setting and most PSIs were related to medication administration. [30] Similarly, Santos [31] found that students most often committed medication errors, but the largest proportion of PSIs were related to care implementation, which encompasses skills such as adhering to guidelines and knowledge application. In examining only medication errors, Walsh et al [32] reported the three most common error types, which were: (1) not administering a medication within the appropriate time frame, (2) administering the medication at the wrong time, and (3) inaccurately documenting medication administration.…”