Professional competency framework for occupational health nurses in Brazil

Nursing competency inventory and professional competence of graduating students in six Asian countries: A cross-sectional study

IntroductionTo understand the core competency levels of paediatric emergency nurses and factors that influence these levels, and to provide a basis for improving the core competencies of paediatric emergency nurses via education and training, and to provide a reference for managers for implementing scientific management models.MethodsFrom October to November 2022, convenience sampling was used to select 540 paediatric emergency nurses from 9 provinces and cities across the country as survey subjects. A self-designed “Self-evaluation questionnaire on core competencies of paediatric emergency nurses” was used for survey analysis.ResultsThe average score of the core competency items among paediatric emergency nurses was 4.06 ± 0.74, the highest score was 4.51 ± 0.62 in the professional attitude dimension, and the lowest score was 3.70 ± 0.81 in the professional development ability dimension. The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that the hospital level and emergency management experience are the factors that influence the core competencies of paediatric emergency nurses. The core competencies of paediatric emergency nurses are at an average level and are influenced by various factors.DiscussionPaediatric emergency nursing managers should develop comprehensive, systematic, and professional training plans, implement scientific management models in paediatric emergency management work, and increase the core competency levels of paediatric emergency nurses.

Factors influencing disaster nursing core competencies of emergency nurses

Core competencies of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses were defined as the essential capability to influence patient safety and interdisciplinary collaboration; however, there has been no research conducted that relates to core competencies of ICU nurses at Chinese tertiary-A hospitals in Shanghai. To investigate the current state of core competencies and the factors that influence this key capability in ICU nurses in Chinese tertiary-A hospitals. This was a multicentre, cross-sectional study. A convenient sampling method was used to investigate 451 ICU nurses at five tertiary-A hospitals in Shanghai. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The core competencies of ICU nurses were above average, and the scores of seven dimensions, ranked from first to last, were medical ethics, clinical practice, nurse-nurse co-operation, assessment and decision-making, personal and professional development, teaching and research and nurse-physician co-operation. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the factors exerting an influence on the core competencies of ICU nurses were title, role incumbent and ICU department. This study showed an above-average level of core competencies among ICU nurses in tertiary-A hospitals in Shanghai; however, competencies related to nurse-physician co-operation and the translation of research into practice were underdeveloped. Nursing managers should implement targeted interventions to improve nurse-physician co-operation and translate research into practice competencies, such as high-fidelity simulation, inter-professional education, scientific research training and innovative skills tutorials. Moreover, this study demonstrated the influencing factors that can be used to improve core competences of ICU nurses.

This study aims to identify and contrast key stakeholder perspectives about the core competencies of mental health nurses. Mental health nurses provide much of the direct care and treatment to patients with mental disorders. The perspectives of users of mental health services, mental health nurses, mental health nurse clinical leaders, psychiatrists, and mental health nurse academics regarding the core competencies of a mental health nurse are informative to improve the quality of care given to patients. We will use concept mapping to compare and contrast the views of different stakeholder groups (n = 50, 10 per group) about the core competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) of mental health nurses. There are six stages in concept mapping: preparation, generation of statements, structuring of statements, representation of statements, interpretation of maps, and utilisation of maps. The Good Reporting of A Mixed Methods Study (GRAMMS) checklist will guide this study. The final output is a “concept map” that can be used and interpreted to understand core mental health nursing competencies. This study will provide insight into the perceived core competencies of mental health nurses from a variety of perspectives.

Evidence points toward the impact of nurses' personal views and knowledge about religion, religiosity, and spirituality on health care. This qualitative research investigates nurses' concepts of religion, religiosity, and spirituality and how they use these concepts in practice. Thirty-four nurses were interviewed at a hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Content analysis was used to organize and code the results. Three main themes generated from the interviews were (i) religiosity/spirituality as an important dimension in life; (ii) notions of religiosity and spirituality; (iii) formal knowledge of the concept of religion, religiosity, and spirituality. The results indicate that religion, religiosity and spirituality should be incorporated into nurse training to improve the comprehension and competence of nurses in these areas of practice. It is recommended that to ensure holistic and person-centered care, there must be constant reflection on these concepts.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the benefits of reclaiming the idea of professional competence and challenges fragmented approaches to academic qualification and professional recognition. It is argued that academic programmes that are integrated with the requirements for professional recognition can resolve the potentially unhelpful differentiation between “theory” and “practice” and between “knowledge” and “competence”. Design/methodology/approach – Three contextualised case studies are presented to demonstrate a range of possibilities for developing academic programmes that integrate professional competence in the fields of construction, aviation and management. Findings – It is argued that the examples described provide some evidence that where competence is conceived of as a matter of open on-going professional development, it can be effectively integrated and aligned with the intended outcomes of academic qualifications. Furthermore, that the examples described demonstrate that the idea of professional competence can operate to ground knowledge in practice contexts and ensure that professional values are positioned as a requirement of being qualified. Originality/value – The diversity of the examples provided across three distinct sectors illustrate the potential for wider curriculum development opportunities for higher education practitioners. The need to align professional body recognition with academic qualification for higher and degree apprenticeships may also indicate significant implications for policy in this area. The cases presented provide evidence that academic qualifications can be developed that are at the same time recognised by employers as delivering a professionally competent workforce. This kind of development activity can provide both an incentive for employers to pay for education and training and opening opportunities for career progression for those in work.

Aims and objectivesThe aim of this quasi-experimental longitudinal intervention study was to investigate new graduate nurses’ professional competence development after preceptors’ participation in an education intervention.BackgroundNew graduate registered nurses are expected to be competent in many areas of nursing. Expectations that are sometimes unrealistic may cause a sense of inadequacy and stress, and this may in turn prevent them from fully deploying their competencies. Competence development is related to practice environment, occupational commitment, empowerment, and work experience. Orientation or transition programs have been designed to ensure new graduate nurses’ competence, and preceptors and preceptorship could also have significant influence on their competence development.DesignA quasi-experimental longitudinal intervention study.MethodsThe data was collected from October 2015 to November 2017. Participating wards were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group preceptors had an eight-hour education intervention that focused on new employees’ orientation, particularly from new graduates’ point of view. Wards in the control group continued to precept as before. The Nurse Competence Scale was used for new graduates’ self-assessment at baseline and at three-month and nine-month follow-up. This study is reported in accordance with the TREND Statement Checklist.ResultsThe education intervention aimed at preceptors did not have impact on the intervention group NGRNs’ competence development. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups and effect size remained small.ConclusionsThe preceptors’ education intervention was not effective enough to develop new graduates’ professional competence so that it would have differed from that of the graduates receiving conventional orientation at the university hospital. This study confirmed that competence development is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon and organizations should invest in new graduate registered nurses’ competence development during their early career. Preceptors’ education and development of preceptorship and transition programs are an important part of overall competence development in complex health care environments.Trial registrationRetrospectively registered

Purpose: To compare the competencies of registered nurses with an international perspective.Background: Rapid changes in scientific developments have important effects on the nursing profession. To adapt to these changes, the essential competencies of graduate nurses are updated by professional organizations.Methods: The document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The study included 9 countries that are members of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), which have a national nursing association, nursing undergraduate program professional qualification criteria, and accreditation structure. Countries' expected competencies from registered nurses were compared in line with the “Nursing Care Continuum Framework and Competencies” published by ICN in 2008, and similarities and differences were analyzed and interpreted. Results: Results show that competency guidelines are published by different organizations, and there is no standard classification of competencies. While 90.91% of the countries include accountability in their professional competence guides, ethical and legal practices and, principles of care are in all of the countries. 81.82% of the countries include leadership and management. Professional, personal, and quality development is addressed by all countries.Conclusions: It was determined the majority of nurse competencies are met by the countries included in the study, and language unity is achieved to a large extent. However, there are differences in the content and handling of competencies. It is clear that there is a need for further research that addresses the issue of professional competencies in nursing in-depth.

Objective To explore the effect of combining graduate education of Master of Nursing Specialist with standardized training in a college in Chongqing. Methods Cluster sampling was used to select 25 of the class of 2015 nursing degree graduates who had participated in the standardized training of nurses, and 18 of the class of 2018 nursing degree graduates who had not participated in the standardized training of nurses. The core competencies of nurses for the grade 2015 and 2018 was investigated. In addition, the satisfaction of grade 2015 students was investigated, and the training effect and existing problems of the Double Track In One clinical practice training mode were analyzed in combination with the standardized training results of nurses.At the same time, the Double Track In One clinical practice training mode was described. Results The total score of the core competence of nurses of grade 2015 was 108.40±20.47, and the total score of the core competence of nurses of grade 2018 was 128.68±26.83. The score of the students of grade 2015 was higher than that of the students of grade 2018 in clinical ability, critical thinking and scientific research ability, interpersonal relationship, leadership, ethics and legal practice, and the difference was statistically significant (t=-3.05, P < 0.05). The total score of the satisfaction survey was 88.12±12.44, which was at a medium level. Conclusion Chongqing Medical University has conducted the clinical practice training of Double Track In One for Master of Nursing Specialist, which has achieved good results and effectively improved the core competence of nurses for nursing graduate students, providing a good reference for further promoting the link between nursing graduate education and professional qualification. Key words: Double track in one; Master of Nursing Specialist; Clinical practice

This paper describes occupational health nurses' and school staff members' experiences of work ability maintenance carried out at schools and the development of ideas to promote the collaboration between occupational health care and school community and to enhance work ability maintenance. The data were collected in a baseline situation of an action research project to further plan and develop activities. The data were analysed by inductive content analysis. According to the results, school community staff members' work ability maintenance focused on the employee, the school community, school work and the working conditions as well as professional competence. The practical actions involved some individual and school-specific variation, focusing on actions to maintain individual and physical work ability. It seems that the collaboration between the school community and occupational health service for work ability maintenance took place at the individual level, but an obvious need for more structural collaboration emerged by several suggestions made by the participants (e.g. better information exchange between the school and occupational health care, improved collaboration between the school staff and the co-operative partners). The progress in collaboration may lead towards spontaneous collaboration, in which case both actors have the same target and work in a planned, continuous and natural way to ensure work ability maintenance in the school community.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop nurses’ core competencies and sub-competencies and to verify the validity and importance-performance of core competencies.Methods: The core competencies of nurses were derived through an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as a literature analysis of domestic and foreign accreditation institutions. Validity and importance-performance analyses were conducted on the core competencies derived from nursing colleges nationwide.Results: Six core competencies of nurses were revealed: integration of knowledge and nursing skills, critical thinking, communication, leadership, safety management, and global competency. Further, eighteen sub-competencies were derived. The content validity ratio values for the core competencies were higher than 0.74. Communication skills among multidisciplinary teams and communication skills among nursing teams were shown to be the most important competencies to be improved.Conclusion: The results of this study are meaningful in terms of how the core competencies of nurses were derived and evaluated for the fourth cycle of nursing education accreditation according to the changes of time and culture.

Core competence is important for high-risk and high-demand operating room nurses, while there are few reports on the core competence of operating room nurses and its influencing factors. This study was to investigate the core competence of nurses in operating room and to explore the effect of fixed surgery specialty on their core competence. The Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses scale, which includes 7 dimensions consisting of a total of 58 items, including ethics/legal practice, professional development ability, leadership ability, clinical nursing ability, interpersonal relationship ability, education/counseling ability and critical thinking/scientific research ability, was used to evaluate the core competence of nurses. Based on the core competence scale of registered nurses, the specific items of core competence of nurses in 5 operating rooms were added to investigate 408 operating room nurses in 8 Grade 3A hospitals in Guangzhou. The total average score of core competence of nurses in operating room was (2.80±0.54). The scores of core competence of nurses in fixed surgery specialty were higher than that in unfixed surgery specialty group (P<0.05). Fixed in a particular surgery specialty is beneficial to improve the core competence of nurses in operating room and improve the quality and efficiency of surgical nursing cooperation.

Standards for occupational health nurses were developed by the Australian College of Occupational Health Nurses principally to assist in maintaining professional competency. The standards were developed in conjunction with the profession, management, unions, and other key groups. The research techniques were a combination of nominal and expert activity and a consultation phase. The standards are organized around nine units of competency (major areas of occupational health nurse practice) with 38 elements and 110 performance criteria. A guideline document on "Assessment of Occupational Health Nurse Competencies" is currently being developed to assist assessors of the competency standards.

It is crucial that palliative care nurses feel competent to practice their profession in accordance with ethical principles, to personalize care, to remain sensitive, to ensure respect, and to communicate effectively. The aim of this study was to verify that higher levels of perceived professional competency predict better individual and organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted with 107 Italian palliative care nurses. Structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis. The model fitted the data well. Professional competency was positively associated with both job satisfaction (β = 0.39) and organizational citizenship behavior (β = 0.53). The more confidence palliative care nurses have in their professional competency, the more they are satisfied with their job and engage in organizational citizenship behavior. Fostering professional competency in palliative nursing can help not only patients and their families but also the nurses themselves, the organization, and their coworkers.