The knowledge about patient safety among undergraduate nurse students in Cyprus and Greece: a comparative study

Background The Patient safety movement contributed to the reduction of preventable adverse events associated with health care. Although patient safety issues have received the attention of educators in the health care studies, there is evidence that in nursing education and the associated curricula it is not well-incorporated. This may not allow students to acquire scientific knowledge and develop strong competencies to assure patient safety throughout their professional life. The aim of the study was the exploration of the undergraduate nursing student perspectives regarding knowledge received during their training about patient safety-related issues. Methods A descriptive comparative study was conducted with three and four-year undergraduate nursing students from the Cyprus Republic (n = 243) and Greece (n = 367). All students were surveyed using the Health Professional Education Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) to describe students' knowledge in the classroom and clinical setting. Results Students' Knowledge about patient safety was expressed significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the classroom (mean = 4.0) than the clinical setting (3.7) (1-5 scale). The knowledge in the dimension "clinical aspects" received the highest score and "working in teams" received the lowest. Also, differences were recorded between countries with Cypriot students reporting higher level of knowledge than the Greek students in most of the dimensions. Conclusion The findings revealed the gap between theory and practice and the need for collaboration between the two settings. Also, students reported relatively higher knowledge with regards to the technical aspects of patient safety. Still, they were less knowledgable about the sociocultural aspects of the patient, such as working in teams.