Future nurses should possess the knowledge and competences necessary to ensure patient safety. However, little evidence is available on the way in which students learn patient safety-related ...principles over time. This study explored the progress of a cohort of Italian undergraduate nursing students as they acquired patient safety knowledge and competences from time of enrolment to graduation.
A longitudinal study carried out between 2015 and 2018 enrolled a cohort of 90 nursing students from two Italian Bachelor of Nursing Science Degree Courses at the Udine University, Italy. The students were followed-up on an annual basis and data collection was performed three times: at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years. The validated Italian version of the Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey tool was used to collect data.
At the end of the 1st year, students reported an average 4.19 out of 5 patient safety knowledge acquired in classrooms (CI 95%, 4.11-4.28), which was stable at the end of the 2nd (4.16; CI 95%, 4.06-4.26) and 3rd years (4.26; CI 95%, 4.16-4.32) and no statistical differences emerged over the years. With regard to the competences acquired in clinical settings, at the end of the 1st year the students reported an average 4.28 out of 5 (CI 95%, 4.20-4.37), which decreased significantly at the end of the 2nd year (4.15; CI 95%, 4.07-4.23; p=0.02) and increased at the end of the 3rd year (4.37; CI 95%, 4.27-4.47; p<0.01).
Nursing students' competences in patient safety issues increases over time, while their knowledge remains stable. Students are more vulnerable at the end of the 1st year, when they seem to be overconfident about patient-safety issues.
No evidence from any longitudinal study design has been reported to date with regard to patient safety (PS) incidents witnessed by nursing students during their training. Therefore, with the aim of ...closing this gap in available knowledge, a longitudinal study was performed from 2012 to 2015 by involving all nursing students (n = 145) enrolled in two Italian nursing programs. At the end of each academic year, students were invited to report in writing all PS incidents witnessed during their clinical learning experience; the number of days each student spent in their clinical setting was also collected from administrative records. Ninety students were included and 94 incidents were reported: 17 (18.1%) by first year students, 27 (28.7%) by second year students, and 50 (53.2%) by third year students. One third of students did not report any PS incident at the end of each academic year, while only a few reported more than one. The incidence density was 3.8/1000 days of clinical training without statistical differences across academic years. Supporting nursing students by encouraging them to share, discuss, and reflect on their clinical learning experience might increase their confidence in reporting safety incidents.
Pneumomediastinum (PNM) and pneumothorax (PNX) are documented complications of arthroscopic shoulder surgery (ATS). Plexus anesthetic block and tracheal lesions during endotracheal intubation are ...hypothesized to be the underlying risk factors; however, the actual evidence supporting this hypothesis is scarce.A case of bilateral laterocervical emphysema, subcutaneous edema, and signs of PNM after ATS performed under general anesthesia and supra-scapular nerve block is presented. An up-to-date systematic review of PNM/PNX during orthopedic surgery was performed, involving six databases: PubMed (1996-present), Embase (1974-present), Scopus (2004-present), SpringerLink (1950-present), Ovid Emcare (1995-present), and Google Scholar (2004-present).Twenty-five case studies met the eligibility criteria. In 24 cases, the patient underwent general anesthesia and orotracheal intubation; in 9 of these, a plexus anesthetic block was also performed. One case involved ATS under plexus anesthetic block only. In 10 cases, the diagnostic finding was PNM. In 5 cases, the diagnostic finding was associated with PNX. PNX was detected in 17 cases. In 2 cases, SE was found in the absence of any evidence of either PNM or PNX. A tracheal lesion was identified in 3 cases.Endotracheal intubation and loco-regional anesthesia are not the only predisposing risk factors at play in the pathogenesis of PNM/PNX. Rather, multi-factorial pathogenesis seems more probable, necessitating that specific attention is paid during ATS to the change in patient position on the operating bed, to any slipping of the endotracheal tube, to patient monitoring whilst under the drapes, and to the cuff pressure. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021260370.