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Aim To clarify perceptions of nurses towards patient safety climate and quality of health care in Japan. Background Nurses' perceptions of patient safety climate and quality of health care services are not well‐known. Method The survey was conducted at general hospitals with 200 beds or more using the Patient Safety Climate Scale and the Modified multiple‐item scale for consumer perceptions of health care service quality. Results Significant positive correlations were found among nurses’ perception towards patient safety and health care service quality. The experience of nurses as members of the committee on patient safety and their employment position did not show any significant difference in the perception towards patient safety and health care services quality. Perceptions of health care service quality were lower among those with 6– to 10‐year experience than with over 21 years. Conclusion In the perception of nurses and nurse managers’ continuous improvement, perceptions towards patient safety were related to reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy in health care service quality. Implications for Nursing Management Generalist nurses with 21 years or more experiences in multiple departments showed high perception towards health care service quality. Experienced nurses’ perceptions of activities to improve patient safety and quality of health care services are important.

Background: Nurses as primary healthcare providers demonstrate quality nursing care through competencies with healthcare technologies, while nurse managers assume the primacy of managing quality healthcare in their respective care settings. However, little is known about perceptions of the influence of care technologies on their nursing practice. Objective: This study aimed to determine managers’ and staff nurses’ perceptions regarding the Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing (TCCN) theory in general hospitals in Japan. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional survey design, with 421 participants selected using a stratified sampling method. Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing Instrument–Revised (TCCNI-R) was used for online data collection using Survey Monkey©. Data were analyzed using Welch’s t-test and ANOVA. Results: Nurses with years of experience within the range of 20 to less than 30 years showed the highest TCCNI-R scores among the two groups. Nurses who had received education on caring in nursing showed significant differences for Factor 2 (Technological Competency as Caring), that of expressing Technological Competency as Caring. Three other factors showed no significant difference, namely in Factor 1 (Nursing Expression as Caring), Factor 3 (Technology and Caring), and Factor 4 (Technological Knowing). However, the average scores of these factors were high, which reflect high professional ethics and occupational discipline and increased awareness of caring in nursing. It was also found that the nurse managers were more aware of the TCCN than were the staff nurses. The nurse managers were also more aware of providing care using technology, recognizing the need-to-know patient needs through technology and providing care to the ever-changing patient’s condition. Conclusion: The study discovered that continuing education is needed regarding the practice of nursing based on theory, enabling appropriate and accurate understanding of practicing knowing persons as caring in nursing. Funding: JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17K12159

Contemporary and future nursing practices are increasingly being designed with nursing theories as to its foundation. The aim of this article is to describe an in-service education program for nursing administrators centered on the theory of Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing (TCCN). This theory is framed chiefly within the concepts of technology, caring, nursing, and technological competency. Influencing the significance of in-service education is theory-based practice with advancing technologies in human caring. The in-service education program was organized as a five-month, one-hour a month lecture and discussion series. In each session, educational contents are focused on the nursing process as caring based on the theory of TCCN. This education is a plan that will gradually educate the nurse manager group, the mid-level nursing staff group, and finally to the staff nurse group. This hierarchically organized in-service educational plan aims to systematically improve their knowledge and practice situation for three years. During each session, theory content included “knowing persons as caring” as the nursing process based on the theory of TCCN. Participating in these lectures are envisioned to increase knowledge about TCCN for the purpose of improving the overall quality of nursing care outcomes. An organized educational plan will improve the quality of nursing care as influenced by the use of the theory of TCCN in the practice of nursing.