Predictors of patient safety activities among registered nurses and nurse aides in long-term care facilities: cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: In Korea, nurse aides (NAs) are legally permitted as substitutes for registered nurses (RNs) in long-term care (LTC) facilities, even though they have very different levels of education and qualification standards. Many studies in hospitals have shown better hospital nurse staffing, more educated nurses, and improved nurse work environments have been associated with lower hospital mortality and length of stay. There is research showing that a higher percentage of RNs with a bachelor’s degree corresponded to lower incidence rates of pressure ulcers in Korean LTC facilities. This study aimed to explore the factors that influence patient safety activities of the RNs and NAs working in LTC facilities and to identify the relationship between patient safety culture (PSC) and patient safety activities. METHODS: This study is a descriptive cross-sectional survey. The study participants were conveniently collected from 88 RNs and 71 NAs who worked at 33 LTC facilities for more than three months. The patient safety activities tool was developed by the researchers for residents of LTC facilities based on the tools developed by Park et al. (2012) for hospital nurses and the patient safety goals of the Joint Commission. The questionnaires were collected by email or mobile application and kept confidential. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean scores of PSC and patient safety activities were 4.03 ± 0.51 points and 4.29 ± 0.49 points out of 5, respectively. There was significant correlation between PSC and patient safety activities (r = .23, p = .004). Factors influencing patient safety activities among RNs and NAs in LTC facilities were RNs (β = .377, p < .001), organizational system of PSC (β = .314, p < .010), and work shift type (fixed night shift, on-call, 24-h shift) (β = -.264, p = .004), which explained about 36.0% of total variance (F = 5.69, p < .001). CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that it is necessary to mandate RNs instead of NAs to enhance residents’ safety in LTC facilities. Additionally, the importance of an organizational safety system and effective working shift types to prevent residents’ safety accidents in LTC facilities is indicated. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03234-w.