Abstract
About this talk
Aim: To explore how newly qualified nurses form intentions and make decisions about adverse event reporting during their transition to clinical practice.
Background: Adverse event reporting is central to patient safety, yet underreporting remains common. Early-career nurses may face uncertainty, hierarchy, workload pressure, and fear of blame when deciding whether to report.
Design: A descriptive qualitative study guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior.
Methods: Twenty-one newly qualified nurses from five general hospitals in China were recruited through purposive sampling. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted in Mandarin from March to October 2025. Data were analysed using hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis supported by NVivo 15. Trustworthiness was enhanced through transcript verification, independent coding, team discussion, analytic memos, and reflexive practice.
Results: Three themes were identified: recognizing reporting as valuable while fearing personal risk; negotiating supportive and restrictive norms in the new workplace; and managing control barriers related to workload, a punitive culture, confidentiality concerns, limited feedback, and complex procedures.
Conclusions: Adverse event reporting among newly qualified nurses is a transition-related practice shaped by knowledge translation, clinical socialization, and perceived behavioral control. Education should include case-based reporting thresholds, near-miss judgment, simulation reporting drills, and just-culture communication, while institutions should simplify reporting and strengthen non-punitive feedback loops.
Speaker
About the speaker
