Effect of a Hybrid Simulation-based Patient Safety Education Program on Patient Safety Knowledge, Attitudes, Performance Confidence and Decision-Making Abilities in Undergraduate Nursing Students

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a hybrid simulation-based patient safety education program and verify its effectiveness among Undergraduate Nursing Students. Methods: The research employed a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest non-synchronized design. Participants included 60 second-year nursing students at M University in M City, 30 assigned to the control group and 30 to the experimental group. The program consisted of two sessions of theoretical education covering patient safety information and the error reporting system and two sessions of practical education using standardized patients and high fidelity patient simulations. The intervention was conducted once a week for 60~90 minutes, over four weeks. Data were collected over five months from July to November 2017, and analyzed using SPSS 24.0. The effectiveness of the program was evaluated through repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Significant interactions between time and group were observed for all outcome variables. The experimental group showed greater improvements than the control group in patient safety knowledge (F=65.28, p<.001), attitude (F=18.86, p<.001), performance confidence (F=11.14, p<.001) and decision-making ability (F=18.13, p<.001). Conclusion: The findings support the implementation of hybrid simulation-based patient safety education as an effective strategy for enhancing nursing students’ competencies in patient safety knowledge, attitudes, performance confidence, and decision-making abilities.