To describe nurses' self-perceived confidence in patient safety competencies and examine how work- and education-related factors influence this confidence.

A descriptive, explorative, cross-sectional survey design.

The Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) was administered to a convenience sample of practising nurses and master's degree students in Estonia between May and September 2023. The following background variables were included: work experience, workplace, educational level and prior patient safety training. A total of 376 respondents completed the survey. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression, which returned the odds ratios for associations between background factors and confidence in patient safety.

Nurses perceived the highest confidence in understanding human and environmental factors, and the lowest confidence in teamwork. Having longer work experience was found to demonstrate a positive association with nurses' confidence in teamwork (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01–1.05) and safety culture (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.00–1.04), compared to nurses with less experience. Nurses in smaller hospitals felt more confident managing safety risks (OR = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.14–4.21), compared to nurses from bigger hospitals. Master's degree students showed significantly higher confidence in responding to adverse events and safety culture than other respondents. Prior patient safety training was associated with greater confidence across several domains.

Confidence in patient safety competencies varies by domain and was found to be noticeably shaped by experience, education and workplace context. As such, targeted training and supportive environments are essential to ensuring high levels of competence among nursing professionals.

The findings underscore how improvements in training and organisational support can strengthen patient safety. Furthermore, retaining experienced and diversely educated nurses is key to building confidence and ensuring a competent workforce. The finding that respondents assess their confidence in teamwork as weak means that new educational interventions need to be designed and implemented to target this aspect of nursing care.

This study followed the STROBE guidelines for cross-sectional research.

No patient or public contribution.