Nurse perspectives on patient safety: knowledge, attitude, and events in West Shoa Hospitals, 2023

Patient safety remains a critical component of healthcare quality, directly influencing patient outcomes and the overall effectiveness of health systems. Nurses, as frontline caregivers, play a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of safe care. Despite the global emphasis on patient safety, there is limited evidence on how these factors manifest. This study therefore addresses a crucial need to inform policy, education, and clinical practice aimed at enhancing patient safety within the regional healthcare system An institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 423 nurses randomly selected from public hospitals in the west Shoa zone from June 24–July 24, 2023. Data were collected by using self-administered adapted questionnaires, entered into Epi-data version 3.1, and exported to Software Package of Social Science version 27 for analysis. Both bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regressions were used to assess the association between the outcome variables and the explanatory variables. Variables with a value of less than 0.25 in the Bivariable logistic regression were interred into the multivariable logistic regression model. Variables with a p value < 0.05 at a 95 % confidence level were declared statically significant and finally, result was summarized by tables, graph, and texts. A total of 408 participants completed the study with a response rate of 96.45%..The nurse’s level of knowledge towards patient safety was 54.41%, (95 % CI; 49.4–59.3), Factors like age, working position, and maintaining hand hygiene were significantly associated with knowledge of the nurse toward patient safety and the highest percentage of positive attitude were: team working climate (48,86%), stress recognition (47.%), burnout (45.45%), job satisfaction (44%), safety climate (41.17%), working conditions (38.5%) and management perception (37.15%).. The findings suggest nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward patient safety may be suboptimal in this setting. This points to a possible need for focused interventions to improve awareness and foster a safety culture. Further research is advised to clarify underlying factors and guide effective measures.