MSc in Human Factors in Patient Safety

€9.250

Learn with an interprofessional team as you expand the skills and knowledge to become involved in and lead patient safety initiatives. Improve personal effectiveness through teamwork, leadership and communication and develop research skills.

€9.250

Award

Masters

Duration

2 years

Mode of delivery

Online - Part-time

Credits

90 ECTS

Next start date

September 2025

About

The MSc in Human Factors in Patient safety is a two-year programme – the first year of which leads to the award of Postgraduate Diploma, and the second year, which leads to the award of MSc.

You must complete the Postgraduate Diploma year to be eligible to progress to the MSc. There is no option to enter straight into the MSc as this is a two-year programme.

At the end of Year 1 and on the successful completion of five modules, you will be given the opportunity to progress to the MSc. If, at this point, you do not wish to progress you can graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Factors in Patient Safety. 

 In Year 2, you will undertake a research and dissertation module that culminates in a submission-ready empirical research or quality improvement article plus an extended literature review.

Hear from faculty and discover more about what you'll learn on this programme.

Watch the video:

Gain an understanding of error, risk and safety in healthcare

Develop the skills necessary to be a safe and effective worker, team member, and leader

Conduct a research or quality improvement project to publication-ready standard

Suitable for

The programme is suitable for all healthcare professionals involved in the care of hospital patients, including surgeons, physicians, anaesthesiologists, emergency medicine doctors, obstetricians, pharmacists, nurses and midwives working in the hospital setting, as well as safety and quality managers. We have had nurses from all acute care domains including ICU, surgery, emergency medicine and general medicine, as well as those that have transitioned out of nursing to safety and quality roles. Additionally, we have also had pharmacists and obstetricians undertake our programme.

What you will learn

Module 1 Error and Safety in Acute Healthcare

Introduce patient safety with a systems perspective, exploring foundational and seminal literature

Module 2 Personal Effectiveness and Non-technical Skills

Improve personal effectiveness and team performance factors in healthcare settings

Module 3 Leadership of Process and Quality Improvement

theoretical principles and practical strategies behind quality improvement in healthcare

Module 4 Professionalism and Advanced Communications

Explore professionalism, ethical practice, and advanced communication, including end-of-life care

Module 5 Research Methods

Study various research methodologies and develop a proposal for a research dissertation

Year 2 Research Dissertation

Conduct an independent research or quality improvement project which will be presented as a ready-for-publication research paper

What our students say

"Undertaking an MSc in Human Factors has given me a greater appreciation and understanding of many things, such as systems, the power and importance of culture ... I feel the MSc has been invaluable to me on a personal and professional level."

Yvonne Young, Assistant Director of Nursing in Sepsis, UL Hospitals Group; Class of 2024 Watch Yvonne's story

"The knowledge and experience gained from the programme is invaluable and it is also a fulfilling and enjoyable experience. If you have the opportunity, go for it!"

Mark Doyle, Class of 2020 Read Mark's story

Faculty highlight

Dr Emily O'Dowd

Dr O'Dowd has a background in psychology and health services and has published across topics such as quality improvement, measuring outcomes, and safety measures.

Find out more

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Course information

Learning outcomes

This programme will assist you to:

Describe and interpret the major concepts, principles, theories and methodologies associated with human factors and its application to patient safety and display an ability to synthesise and critically appraise the evidence.
Identify and critically examine the specific person and system factors in hospitals which increase the risk of error and may impact patient safety.
Appraise the role of non-technical skills in supporting safe and effective patient care.
Utilise advanced communication and interpersonal skills to recognise and manage difficult situations arising from conflict with patients, relatives and colleagues.
Demonstrate proficiency in the use of the main interpersonal and communication skills and tools.
Recognise issues and circumstances in healthcare practice that raise potential legal liability and to utilise the frameworks necessary to analyse and critically evaluate errors in hospital practice.
Select and apply quality and process improvement methodologies toward developing applied solutions to healthcare problems.
Develop an idea into a comprehensive research strategy.
Demonstrate mastery of the main qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques of human factors research and investigation.
Champion and defend a systems perspective on risk and safety management in healthcare.
Endorse the priority of patient safety in healthcare and demonstrate personal support for efforts to understand and manage healthcare risk more effectively.

Modules

Year 1

Module name	Description
Error and Safety in Acute Healthcare	In this introductory module, we take a systems perspective on the issue of patient safety. This is a foundation module, the seminal literature is explored in depth.
Personal Effectiveness and Non-technical Skills	This module focuses on the factors that contribute to improving personal effectiveness and team performance in healthcare.
Leadership of Process and Quality Improvement	In this module, the theoretical principles and the practical strategies behind QI are explored in depth.
Professionalism and Advanced Communications	In this module areas of professionalism are explored including relationships with patients and ethical practice. Principles and practice of advanced communication including shared decision-making, obtaining consent, open disclosure, breaking bad news and end of life care are also included.
Research Methods	Research methodologies including: experimental and quasi-experimental methods, quantitative descriptive/ observational research, qualitative and mixed methods research, pragmatic research approaches and research in process and quality improvement. Scholars will apply their skills to the development of a research proposal which will form the basis for their research dissertation.

Year 2

Module name	Description
Research Dissertation	In this module you will apply the knowledge, skills, and techniques developed over the previous five modules. You will conduct an independent research or quality improvement project which will be presented as a ready for publication research paper.

Assessment format

Formative assessment will include participation in classroom activities and group work. Summative assessment for the majority of the modules will involve:

A 2,000-word assignment
Participation in a group project and presentation
A 300-word submission to a weekly discussion forum (n = 6-8 per module)
Dissertation which includes a publication-ready research article accompanied by an extended literature review.

Accreditation and recognition

The programme is accredited by the National University of Ireland, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) and RCSI.

Admissions

Entry requirements

This is an inter-professional programme. Applications are invited from all those working in the acute hospital setting.

To be eligible, you must:

Hold a Bachelor of Medicine (MB) or a primary degree in a health and social sciences field with a qualification achieved at the level of 2.2 honours.
Provide evidence of at least two years’ work experience in acute hospital care and must be currently working in the acute hospital setting.

As part of the application process you are required to submit the following supporting documentation:

CV
Copy of passport
Copy of educational transcripts
Proof of sponsorship (where applicable)
A 500-800 word response to the question 'Why is healthcare still not safe'. Please note that all responses will be screened for AI generated content.
Letter from current employer
Evidence of English language qualification* (where applicable)

Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) may be used to gain admission to programmes where an applicant may not have obtained the standard entry requirements. This is considered on a case-by-case basis.

Exemptions from programme modules which duplicate learning already demonstrably acquired through prior learning may also be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you believe that you qualify for recognition of prior learning, you must contact the programme director to discuss why you believe you qualify. You will be asked to submit documentation to confirm equivalency.

More information is available here or you can contact us at PostgradSA@rcsi.ie.

English language requirement exceptions

If English is not your first language, you will also need to supply a copy of an academic IELTS examination, or equivalent, with an overall score of at least 6.5 and no individual band below 6.5*. Read more about minimum English language requirements here.

Fees and funding

Places on this programme are limited. Fees for the academic years 2024/2026 are as follows:

Postgraduate Diploma: €5,550 (Year 1 – EU and non-EU fee)
MSc: €3,700 (Year 2 – EU and non-EU fee)

Please note: NCHDs in Ireland working in the HSE full-time may be able to combine CPD-SS funding and TSS funding to cover up to €2,740 of the cost of this programme. You can check if you are eligible for this funding by emailing us at cpdss@rcsi.com.

Payment structure

PgDip (Year 1)

First payment (on acceptance of offer): €1,500 + €45 NUI
Second payment (End of August): €2,500
Third payment (End of January): €1,550

MSc (Year 2)

First payment (End of August): €2,500 + €45 NUI
Second payment (End of January): €1,200

Please note:

The fee includes all resources, access to our award-winning online learning portal and access to extensive RCSI-only databases.
There is a non-refundable online application fee of €100.
The fee includes an annual NUI fee of €45.
The fee is payable via the above schedule, where relevant.
If you have outstanding fees you will not be entitled to receive your grades or be eligible to progress and or graduate (VLE and Library privileges will be withdrawn in these cases).
RCSI accepts no obligation to refund any fee, or part thereof, in respect of a student who chooses to withdraw from a programme.
If you choose to withdraw from a programme you are liable for full fees owed for the seat on that programme.
All NUI parchments are issued in Latin; you will be required to pay an additional fee of €50 to NUI if you wish to have a parchment published in English. Further information can be found here.
Fees are subject to review annually.
If you are being sponsored or funded by your employer you should upload a funding confirmation letter in the document upload section on the application portal. A template is available below to download at your convenience.