Caracterización de las competencias en seguridad del paciente durante la formación clínica de los internos de enfermería de la Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, 2026.

Abstract

Patient safety is an essential component of nursing education, particularly during pre-professional clinical practice, when students participate in supervised care in real healthcare settings. Objective: To characterize patient safety competencies among nursing interns during clinical training at the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil in 2026. Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional, and prospective study was conducted. Population: A census approach included 68 interns from the September 2025 cohort; 65 met the selection criteria and completed data collection. Technique: Data were collected through a survey. Instrument: The Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) was used to assess self-perceived competencies. Results: Overall, 60.0% of participants were classified at a moderate level, 30.8% at a high level, and 9.2% at a low level. Clinical safety had the highest proportion at the high level (36.9%), whereas safety culture (20.0%) and recognition, response to, and disclosure of adverse events and incidents (18.5%) showed the largest proportions at the low level. Conclusions: Self-perceived competencies were predominantly moderate and differed across dimensions. Clinical safety received a more favorable assessment, whereas safety culture and competencies related to adverse events showed higher proportions at the low level. The findings reflect self-perception and should not be interpreted as a direct measure of clinical performance.