Patient safety in practical nurses' education: A cross-sectional survey of newly registered practical nurses in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Practical nurses have experienced an increasing scope of practice, including an expectation to care for complex patients and function on interdisciplinary teams. Little is known about the degree to which patient safety principles are addressed in practical nursing education.

PURPOSE: To examine self-reported patient safety competencies of practical nurses.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional online survey (July 2014) and face-to-face interviews (June 2015).

SETTING: Ontario, Canada.

PARTICIPANTS: Survey participants were practical nurses newly registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario between January 2012 and December 2013. Interview participants were faculty and students in a practical nursing program in Ontario.

METHODS: Survey respondents completed the Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey online. Self-reported competencies in various patient safety domains were compared between classroom and clinical settings. Faculty members were interviewed about educational preparation of practical nurses and students were interviewed to provide insight into interpretation of survey questions.

RESULTS: The survey response rate was 28.4% (n=1104/3883). Mean domain scores indicated a high level of confidence in patient safety competence (<4.0/5.0). Confidence was highest in respondents registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario >2years and in those who obtained their education outside of Canada. Faculty believed their approach to teaching and learning instilled a deep understanding of the limits to practical nurse autonomous practice.

CONCLUSIONS: Practical nurses were confident in what they learned about patient safety in their educational programs. The high degree of patient safety competence may be a true reflection of practical nurses understanding of, and comfort with, the limits of their knowledge and, ultimately, the limits of their individual autonomous practice. Further exploration as to whether the questionnaire requires additional modification for use with practical nurse populations is warranted. However, this study provides the first examination of practical nurses' perspectives and perceptions about patient safety education.