Comparing the effects of patient safety education using design thinking and case based learning on nursing students' competece and professional socialization: A quasi-experimental design.

BACKGROUND: Patient safety issues should be constantly monitored and sensitively recognized. In nursing education, it is necessary to find effective teaching methods to increase students' competencies in patient safety.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a new method, design thinking (DT), and a traditional method, case-based learning (CBL), in patient safety education.

DESIGN: This study used a quasi-experimental, pre-post control group design.

SETTINGS: A 30-h training tutorial was developed for intervention groups, DT and CBL, while the control group received no treatment.

PARTICIPANTS: In this study were junior nursing students receiving baccalaureate nursing education with experiences of at least 480-h clinical practice. A total of 53 students (21 in the DT group, 19 in the CBL group, and 13 in the control group) were recruited.

METHODS: Clinical reasoning competency, patient safety competency, and professional socialization were measured immediately after the end of the educational program using DT and CBL, 4 weeks later, and 8 weeks later. Effects of DT and CBL were analyzed using a generalized estimating equation.

RESULTS: Both DT and CBL were effective in clinical reasoning competency (χ2  = 15.432, p  = 0.017) and knowledge domain of patient safety competency (χ2  = 42.824, p  < 0.001), showing no significant difference between the two. CBL was more effective in professional socialization than DT.

CONCLUSIONS: DT was as effective as CBL in clinical reasoning competency and knowledge domain of patient safety competency. In the healthcare field, where improving the patient experience is becoming increasingly important, DT is worth applying as an educational method to train nursing students who can take a creative and human-centered problem-solving approach. It is expected that educational curricula utilizing DT will be developed not only in the field of patient safety but also in various patient care areas.