Effectiveness of room of errors simulation in patient safety education for nursing students preparing for clinical practice: A quasi-experimental study focusing on three regions in South Korea

Background Patient accidents are an important problem in healthcare, and patient safety education for nurses is essential to prevent such accidents. Room of errors simulation is a low-cost, high-efficiency method used in nursing education that helps students improve their ability to recognize and resolve errors related to patient safety. This study aimed to develop and implement a room of errors simulation for nursing students preparing for clinical practice and to evaluate the effects on students’ patient safety knowledge, attitude, and performance confidence. Methods This was a quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The participants comprised 66 students from 3 different nursing colleges in South Korea. The collected data included demographic information, patient safety knowledge, patient safety attitude, and patient safety performance confidence. Data was collected in February and March 2024 and was analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results In total, 66 nursing students were included in the analysis. After completing the room of errors simulation, compared to the control group, the experimental group showed significantly improved scores for patient safety knowledge (t = 65.959, p=.000), patient safety attitude (t = 39.477, p=.000), and patient safety performance confidence (t = 9.668, p=.000). Conclusions The room of errors simulation effectively increased patient safety knowledge, patient safety attitude, and patient safety performance confidence in nursing college students preparing for clinical practice.