Factor analysis of nursing students' perception of patient safety education.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to investigate the factor structure of the Health Care Professionals Patient Safety Assessment Curriculum Survey (HPPSACS) when completed by a group of nursing students from one University in the UK.


BACKGROUND
The quality, content and delivery of nursing education can have a significant impact on the future students' safety behaviours in clinical settings. The Health Care Professionals Patient Safety Assessment Curriculum Survey HPPSACS has been developed in the US to establish undergraduate nursing students' perceived awareness, skills, and attitudes toward patient safety education. The instrument has not been reported to be used elsewhere; therefore, some psychometric properties remain untested.


METHODS
Pre-registration nursing students (n=272) from three campuses of a university in East of England completed the HPPSACS in 2012. Principal component analysis was conducted to explore the factors emerging from the students' responses.


RESULTS
222 students (82%) returned the questionnaires. Constraining data to a 4-factor solution explained 52% of the variance. Factors identified were: "Willingness to disclose errors", "Recognition and management of medical errors", "The Perceived interprofessional context of patient safety" and "The perceived support and understanding for improving patient safety". The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.64, indicating moderate internal consistency of the instrument.


CONCLUSIONS
Some demographical and descriptive questions on the HPPSACS instrument were modified to accommodate the participants' educational context. However, all items in the HPPSACS which were included in the factor analysis remain identical to the original tool.


CONCLUSIONS
The study offers empirical findings of how patient safety education is contextualised in the undergraduate, pre-registration nursing curriculum. Further research is required to refine and improve the overall reliability of the Health Care Professionals Patient Safety Assessment Curriculum Survey (HPPSACS' instrument).
Senior Lecturer, Acute Care Department, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Anglia Ruskin University, 4th Floor William Harvey Building, Chelmsford Campus, CM1 1SQ, Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
Mansour
M
Mansour
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004506:Education, Nursing; D004739:England; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Attitudes; Awareness; Nursing students; Patient safety education; Skills