Nurturing factors of patient safety and impediments in implementation, baccalaureate nursing students’ perception: A phenomenological qualitative approach

Abstract

Introduction: Two internationally significant facets of patient care are patient safety and uncompromised quality improvement. It is the right of hospitalized patients to anticipate receiving the best treatment possible. Studies conducted all over the world have shown that nurses are essential to patient safety and that patient outcomes are directly impacted by the standard of the nursing environment. Student nurses' knowledge about patient safety before entering professional practice can positively contribute to patient safety.

Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the factors contributing to patient safety and the challenges encountered in achieving it from a baccalaureate nursing students’ perspective. Data was collected through FGD (Focus Group Discussion). An Objective-based prepared discussion guide which consisted of four open-ended questions was used to facilitate synchronous (Focus Group Discussion). A convenience sampling strategy was used to recruit 32 final-year baccalaureate nursing students, who subsequently took part in 4 Focus Group Discussions with 8 participants in each group. The interviews with a duration of 20 to 30 minutes were recorded, verbatim transcribed, and subjected to a thematic analysis process utilizing a standard thematic analysis framework (Mayring, Kiger, M. E., and Braun, V). Confirmability of themes checked using member check method. The study followed the COREQ (Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research) Checklist.

Results: All the participants (100%) were females, all of them (100%) were residing in a hostel, (56.25%) had observed patient safety incidents during their student clinical practice and (68.75%) had gained knowledge about patient safety through other means apart from the syllabus. Three primary themes emerged from the Data's thematic content analysis (1) Competent Physical and Educational Infrastructure, (2) Communication and Group Dynamics, (3) Challenges faced, and a few related subthemes. A question on innovative suggestions for patient safety underwent a word cloud generation due to lesser chances for theme generation.

Discussion: The study's overall findings indicate that nursing students have an idealistic perspective on patient safety, which is demonstrated by their emphasis on continuous upgrading of current infrastructure in terms of technology, education, and skill sets to achieve patient safety. Patient safety is much dependent on nurse knowing their patient in totality. They believed that the safety and support of the workers was just as vital as the safety of the patients. Based on the nearly four years of experience of nursing students, this study illustrates elements related to patient safety.