Patient Safety Competence and Second Victim Experience Among Nurses

Background Nurses engage in the most direct contact with patients and face a high risk of becoming second victims.Nurses' patient safety competency is an important factor in patient safety.The relationship between second-victim patient safety competence and second-victim experience remains unclear.Hence, the objective of this study was to explore the impacts of patient safety competence on the experiences of and support provided to the second victims of adverse nursing events. Methods A total of 924 nurses who had experienced adverse events in four tertiary-level A hospitals in Jiangsu Province were recruited from November 03,2022 ,to April 30,2023 using the convenience sampling method; these nurses were surveyed using the SociodemographicCharacteristics Questionnaire, the Characteristics of Experiencing Adverse Events Questionnaire, the Second Victim Experience and Support Tool, and the Patient Safety Competency Self-Rating Scale. Results The second victim experience and support of the nurses included in this research were at moderate level, with a mean score of 2.98±0.45; psychological distress received the highestrating at 4.00±0.83 points, while coworker support received the lowest rating at 2.59±0.53 points. Nurses exhibited a higher level of patient safety competency (4.321±0.584); furthermore,patient safety competency was negatively correlated with the level of second victim distress and positively correlated with the level of second victim support, while patient safety competency was an independent factor influencing second victim experience. Conclusion The higher the nurse's level of patient safety competency is, the lower the level of distress and the higher the level of perceived support experienced by the second victim, thus suggesting that improving patient safety competency scan provide organizational support for the second victim and promote the second victim's recovery.