Factors Influencing Patient Safety Management Behaviors in Nursing Students

The objective of this study is to identify the critical thinking Disposition, problem-solving processes, safety motivation, patient safety management knowledge, attitudes towards patient safety, confidence in patient safety performance, and patient safety management behaviors of nursing college students, and to verify their relationships. The study collected data using a questionnaire targeting nursing students enrolled at a university in S city. Out of the 245 questionnaires distributed, 230 were collected, and after excluding insincere responses, 221 were used for the final analysis. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics Ver 27, with t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression. The results are as follows: The score for critical thinking Disposition (score range 1-5) was 3.79, the score for problem-solving process was 3.57, patient safety management knowledge (correct answer rate) was 66.6%, the score for attitudes towards patient safety was 3.90, safety motivation was 4.58, confidence in patient safety performance was 4.35, and patient safety management behavior was 4.57. There were significant differences in confidence in patient safety performance according to general characteristics of the participants and major-related characteristics such as gender (t=2.031, p= .044), and satisfaction with practice (F=5.037, p= .007). The score for patient safety management behavior showed significant differences according to satisfaction with practice (F=3.055, p= .049). Patient safety management behavior had a significant positive correlation with confidence in patient safety performance (r=.690, p=.000), safety motivation (r=.676, p=.000), attitudes towards patient safety (r=.399, p=.000), problem-solving process (r=.314, p=.000), and critical thinking Disposition (r=.337, p=.000). Confidence in patient safety performance had a significant positive correlation with critical thinking Disposition, problem-solving process, attitudes towards patient safety, and safety motivation. Safety motivation also had a significant positive correlation with critical thinking Disposition, problem-solving process, and attitudes towards patient safety. Attitudes towards patient safety had a significant positive correlation with critical thinking Disposition and problem-solving process. Critical thinking Disposition had a significant positive correlation with problem-solving process. To identify the factors influencing the participants' patient safety management behavior, multiple regression analysis was conducted, and the results showed that confidence in patient safety performance (ß=0.398, p<.001) and safety motivation (ß=0.386, p<.001) were influencing factors, explaining 56.4% of the variance. The results of the study show that higher confidence in patient safety performance and higher levels of safety motivation have a positive impact on patient safety management behavior. This study is meaningful as foundational data for all nursing students to receive standardized patient safety management education, based on the development of an online education program to enhance confidence in patient safety performance and safety motivation. Therefore, it suggests follow-up studies for the development of a standardized online education program for patient safety management.