The purpose of the study was to determine nursing students' perceptions of patient safety competencies as it related to Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies and the Safety Competencies Framework developed by The Canadian Patient Safety Institute. The study determined if nursing students knew how to provide safe patient care and when to report adverse events and close calls. A gap existed among the general nursing student population about patient safety competencies. Studies were conducted in Canada, Italy, Great Britain, Finland, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S., but were conducted within specific courses, within specific universities. A study was conducted that used a volunteer convenience sample that consisted of nursing students not associated with any specific level of nursing education, year of program (length of program), or type of nursing program in the U.S. The quantitative research study was a nonexperimental, quantitative, descriptive, comparative study. Nursing students from the National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA) were the population used for the study. The data was collected from 1,569 participants. The sample size was 953 participants. Nine Kruskal-Wallis tests were completed; one test for each combination of scales and demographic variables were completed. Three independent variables were included in the study: level of nursing (education), year of program (length of program), and type of (nursing) program. There were three dependent variables: classroom competence, clinical competence, and comfort speaking up about adverse events and close calls. The first-year level of nursing students' perceptions believed they were more competent than the fourth-year level of nursing students in the classroom and clinical setting. In the year of program (length of program), nursing students' perceptions of the two-year program of patient safety competencies believed they were more competent than the four-year program in the clinical setting. Nursing students' perceptions of the four-year program believed they were less comfortable in speaking up about adverse events and close calls compared to all other nursing students' years of program. The overall difference of nursing perceptions based on nursing level was that there was no specific difference found between any two types of programs based on classroom competence. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]