Patient-Centred Communication as a Mediator of Nurses' Safety-Care Activities.

BACKGROUND

Enhancing patient safety involves identifying key factors and applying preventive strategies. While clinical competency, professional values and safety culture are recognised as important, the mediating role of patient-centred communication in promoting safety-care activities remains underexplored.

AIM

This study aimed to identify factors influencing safety-care activities among hospital nurses, with patient-centred communication competency as a mediator.

METHODS

A correlational survey design was employed, involving 308 nurses with a minimum of 6 months of clinical experience at university hospitals. Data were collected between March and December 2022 and analysed using structural equation modelling with IBM SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0.

RESULTS

Most participants were female (93.8%) and single (84.4%), with an average of 5 years of clinical experience. Clinical competency, professional values, awareness of safety culture and patient-centred communication competency collectively explained 36% of the variance in safety-care activities. Patient-centred communication competency demonstrated a significant indirect effect (β = 0.04, 95% CI [0.01, 0.07]), supporting its mediating role.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical competency, awareness of safety culture and patient-centred communication competency were significant predictors of safety-care activities. The mediating role of communication highlights its importance in translating values into safety-care practice. Future research should examine broader organisational and cultural influences to strengthen the model's applicability across diverse healthcare settings.