Improvements in Educational Preparedness for Quality and Safety

Ongoing assessments of nurses’ preparedness in quality and safety competencies are absent from prelicensure education programs. Yet acquiring knowledge and skills in these areas is critical for nurses to meet the recommendations of key health care stakeholders. The study presented in this article used a cross-sectional, comparative design to examine differences in reported preparedness between two cohorts of entry-level registered nurses licensed to practice in 2004–05 and 2007–08 across 15 U.S. states. The results showed that the 2007–08 cohort reported improvements (p < .05) in four items: evidence-based practice, data analysis, project implementation, and helpfulness of quality improvement training. These findings warrant continued assessments of quality and safety education in prelicensure nursing curricula to ensure optimal readiness of the nursing workforce.