Understanding the wider impact of patient safety incidents

Methods The study used a descriptive correlational design to examine the relationship between involvement in a patient safety incident and subsequent job moves, intention to leave the profession and suicidal behaviour in nurses. The researchers recruited nurses from New York and Oregon who had been working in a clinical setting within the past 5 years and who had been involved in a patient safety incident. This study used the Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire–Revised, a fouritem questionnaire which assesses lifetime suicide ideation, frequency of suicidal ideation over the past 12 months, assessment of the threat of a suicide attempt and the selfreported likelihood of future suicidal behaviour. Information on the type of safety incident, alongside career intention data, was also obtained.