Nursing students' perspectives and suggestions on patient safety—Implications for developing the nursing education curriculum in Iran

Abstract

Nursing students' close involvement in knowledge development about patient safety will enhance the integrity of the current content of nursing education and pave the way towards developing a nursing curriculum that facilitates achieving a safer health-care system. This study explores nursing students' perspectives and suggestions on developing patient safety aspects of the nursing curriculum in the context of Iranian culture. A qualitative methodology involving three focus groups with a purposive sample of 18 nursing students from a large Iranian nursing school, utilising directed semi-structured interviews generated data, which was analysed using the content analysis process. Two main themes emerged from content analysis: (1) "involving students fully in patient care" with subthemes 'building a trusting relationship between education and practice', and 'promoting inter-dependence between health-care providers', and (2) "structuring patient safety education" with subthemes 'transforming nursing routines to evidence-based care', and 'connecting care to patient safety issues'. The extent of students' involvement in clinical practice and clinical nurses' roles in student education in practice requires clarification. The curriculum needs to incorporate patient safety aspects throughout, and include interdisciplinary education to ensure compliance with patient safety policies. Moreover, successful implementation of such a curriculum necessitates cooperation from nursing practice and instructors to meet nursing students' expectations.