Abstract: Objective To investigate the current situation of patient safety competency of clinical nurses in tertiary grade-A hospitals and analyze its influencing factors. Methods A total of 1,320 nurses from 21 tertiary grade-A hospitals of Sichuan Province were selected by proportional stratified random sampling, and they were investigated by using general information questionnaire, Systems Thinking Scale, and Patient Safety Competency Nurse Evaluation Scale. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the factors influencing clinical nurses' patient safety competency. Results The score of patient safety competency of clinical nurses was 150.76±16.60. The total score of patient safety competency was positively correlated with that of professionalism and systematic thinking (r=0.505, r=0.506, all P<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that marital status, employment status, monthly average night shifts, whether participating in patient safety-related activities or programs or not, professionalism, and systems thinking entered the regression equation (P<0.05), explaining 40.7% of the total variation. Conclusion The patient safety competence of the clinical nurses in this group is at a medium above level. Marital status, employment status, monthly average night shifts, whether they have participated in patient safety-related activities or projects, professionalism and systems thinking are the main influencing factors of patient safety competence. Targeted countermeasures should be considered to improve the level of patient safety competency of clinical nurses and promote the quality of medical care and patient safety.

Key words: nurse, professionalism, systems thinking, patient safety, competency