Nursing accreditation system and patient safety CHING-I TENG PhD 1 , YEA-ING LOTUS SHYU RN, PhD 2 , YU-TZU DAI RN, PhD 3 , MAY-KUEN WONG MD, PhD 4 , TSUNG-LAN CHU RN, MS 5 and TIN-AN CHOU BS 6 1 Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Business and Management, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 2 Professor, Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 3 Professor, Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 4 Chairman, Taoyuan Branch, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 5 Director, Department of Nursing, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan and 6 Alumnus, Department of Health Care Management, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan Introduction Patient safety is a critical indicator for patient health (Horn et al. 2005) and is a priority of health-care management. A 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine identified the significance of patient safety resulting in studies investigating methods of improving patient safety and reducing adverse events, including occurrences of patient injuries during care (Aiken et al. 2002, 2003, Needleman et al. 2002). The issue of patient safety continues to be an important focus of study (Schubert et al. 2009, Bae et al. 2010, Teng et al. 2010b). Previous studies of patient safety have identified influential nursing factors affecting patient care, including burnout (Spence Laschinger & Leiter 2006), Correspondence Ching-I Teng 259 Wenhua 1st Road Gueishan Shiang 333 Taoyuan Taiwan E-mail: chingit@mail.cgu.edu.tw TENG C.-I., SHYU Y.-I.L., DAI Y.-T., WONG M.-K., CHU T.-L. & CHOU T.-A. (2012) Journal of Nursing Management 20, 311–318 Nursing accreditation system and patient safety Aims This study investigated whether nursing accreditation level affects patient safety. Background The nursing accreditation system evaluates the capabilities of nursing professionals in Taiwan. While this system has been in place for years, few studies have investigated whether nursing accreditation level is associated with patient safety indicators. This study can help in understanding how nursing capabilities affect patient safety and can subsequently contribute to improvements in patient safety. Methods This study adopted a cross-sectional research design using questionnaires to collect responses from nurses working in two major medical centres in northern Taiwan. Regression analyses were conducted to test the study hypothesis. Results The analytical results show that nursing accreditation level is positively related to patient safety indicators. Conclusion Health services managers should encourage nurses to advance their knowledge, skills, and professional capabilities because these may be positively related to patient safety. Implications for Nursing Management Nursing managers who seek to improve patient safety should consider encouraging nurses to advance their accreditation level. Keywords: health care management, hospital nurses, nursing accreditation, nursing capabilities, patient safety Accepted for publication: 18 June 2011 Journal of Nursing Management, 2012, 20, 311–318 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01287.x ª 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 311