Moderating effect of social support in the relationship between perceived work overload and patient safety behaviours among nursing interns in Nigeria

TL;DR

This study explores how work overload affects patient safety behaviors in Nigerian nursing interns and how social support can reduce these negative effects.

Contribution

The study identifies social support as a moderator of the relationship between work overload and patient safety errors among nursing interns.

Findings

Higher work overload significantly predicts more patient safety errors among nursing interns.

Perceived supervisor and coworker support moderate the negative impact of work overload on safety errors.

Social support acts as a protective resource in high-stress clinical environments.

Abstract

Patient safety-related adverse events continue to pose a serious threat in healthcare, frequently arising from excessive job demands on frontline staff. It is particularly critical to understand how work overload affects nursing interns, a group vulnerable due to limited clinical experience.

This study examines the relationship between work overload and patient safety behaviours among nursing interns in Nigerian public hospitals. It also investigates whether perceived supervisor and coworker support moderate that relationship, guided by the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model.

A cross-sectional survey was administered to nursing interns during clinical placements in government teaching hospitals located in the Southwest region of Nigeria, measuring self-reported work overload, perceived supervisor and coworker support, and medical error incidence.

Higher levels of reported work overload were found to significantly predict a higher incidence of self-reported patient safety errors. However, both perceived supervisor support and coworker support significantly moderated this association, helping to buffer the negative impact of work overload on the occurrence of patient safety errors.

Social support from supervisors and colleagues serves as a protective resource in high-stress clinical environments. Health institutions should therefore promote supportive supervisory practices and team cohesion to mitigate patient safety-related adverse events and enhance the well-being and performance of early-career nurses.

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