Patient safety: Knowledge and attitudes of medical and nursing students: Cross-sectional study

Aim: The objective of this study to research medical and nursing students' level of knowledge of patient safety. Background: Patient safety represents the foundation of health care quality, while education represents a requirement which has to be fulfilled to achieve and maintain that quality. Design: The research was conducted as a descriptive/analytical cross-sectional survey, with medical and nursing students being the sample (n = 370). Methods: The research instrument was the WHO questionnaire "What is Patient Safety? ", which displayed good psychometric characteristics. Results: The research results indicate that the study department has a significant influence on the level of students' knowledge and attitudes to patient safety. Nursing students in their final academic year show statistically significantly higher level of knowledge in relation to the first year students. Medical students are not significantly different, in terms of the level of knowledge and attitudes, in their first and final academic years. Conclusions: Knowledge and attitudes regarding patient safety shown by the students in this survey significantly contribute to the comprehension of the necessity of the implementation and development of patient safety course into the existing curricula and syllabi of all colleges and universities related to health care.