Comparison of self-competency and executive (charge) nurse competency assessments of clinical nurses

AIM

This study compared nurses' self-competency assessments and their managers' nurse competence assessments.

BACKGROUND

Nurse competence is important for nursing care quality and patient safety. Executive (charge) nurses play a main role in the nurse competency assessment.

METHODOLOGY

In this study conducted at a university hospital between January and December 2020, the self-efficacy evaluations of nurses (n = 162) working in services other than the emergency department, operating room, and outpatient clinics of the university hospital were compared with the evaluations of nurse executives (charges) on these nurses (n = 21). Data were collected using the personal information form and the Nurse Competence Scale. A cross-sectional study design was used. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guideline was used for reporting.

RESULTS

Service nurses' self-assessments and nurses treating charge's assessment of clinical nurses evaluated the competence levels as excellent in both groups. The self-competency assessments of the nurses were higher than the charge nurses' competency assessments.

DISCUSSION

In this study, the lower competence assessment of nurses by the charge nurses was may be due to their ability to observe nurses in their teams in general and that they have more experience in evaluation.

CONCLUSION

It is suggested that professional development and competence programs be created to further develop the competencies of nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Nurse competency assessments support planning to ensure patient safety. Patient care burden and planning of risky patients according to the nurse competency level will provide safe patient care.

Self-Rated Emergency Core Nursing Competencies Among Emergency Nurses in Qassim, Saudi Arabia

Introduction Emergency situations require advanced and specialized knowledge and skills to handle urgent situations. However, there is a scarcity of literature on emergency nurses' competencies. We assessed the competencies of nurses working in the emergency departments of hospitals in the Qassim region. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 213 nursing staff at the emergency departments of all government hospitals in the Qassim region. A standardized tool was adopted for data collection which encompassed sociodemographic and self-reported competencies in nine emergency nursing domains, reflecting the core competencies using a 5-point Likert scale. Data was collected through an online survey. SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, USA) was used for data analysis. Linear regression analysis was carried out to explore the factors associated with competencies.  Results A total of 213 nurses were included in the study with a mean age of 32.9±4.6 years. More than two-thirds of the nurses were female (69.5) and more than half were Saudi nationals. The mean experience of the participants was (6.3±3.7) years. The nurses at the emergency department had satisfactory knowledge about most of the core emergency nursing competencies with some areas such as genitourinary, gynecological assessment, and documentation being deficient. Increasing age, being non-Saudi, married and nurse supervisor were associated with higher competencies. Conclusions Nurses generally had satisfactory knowledge of most of the core competencies of nurses in the emergency department in the Qassim region. However, there were deficiencies in core competencies in some domains. There is a need to provide on-the-job training and coaching for emergency nurses to improve their competencies and the quality of emergency care in the hospitals.

Psychometric evaluation of Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short-form Chinese language version among nursing graduate students

Aim

The aim of the study was to determine the psychometric properties, construct validity and internal consistency of the Chinese language version of the Nurse Professional Competence scale short form.

Design

A methodological design was used.

Methods

Questionnaire data from 260 nursing students nearing graduation from 2 universities in China were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, known‐group validity and internal consistency.

Results

The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the model was acceptable, and the analyses for known‐group validity revealed statistically significant differences in all factors and the total scale of the Nurse Professional Competence scale short form. Internal consistency revealed that Cronbach's alpha values exceeded 0.70 for all factors and the total scale. The Chinese language version of the Nurse Professional Competence scale short form has acceptable construct validity and good internal consistency.

Nurses' competency in Saudi Arabian healthcare context: A cross-sectional correlational study

AIM

To measure the competence and characteristics of nurses in Saudi Arabia delivering health care with significant correlations.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional correlational study.

METHODS

Data were collected in 2019 using a standardized questionnaire, Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN), that included a purposive sample of 621 nurses working in Saudi Arabia.

RESULTS

A positive evaluation of nurses' overall core competency components is recognizably measured with greater competency levels in their workplace, scoring highest in "legal/ethical practice" while "critical thinking and research aptitude" represented the lowest dimension. Nurses' marital status, years of graduation, length of service, duty hours and nurse-patient ratio affect their competency level. Nurses' competence and their sociodemographic characteristics are significantly correlated attributes. Medical ward nurses are likely to have the greatest competence in delivering safe nursing care within training's legal borders.

A survey of clinical competence of new nurses working in emergency department in Iran: A descriptive, cross-sectional study

Aims

This article reports on a study investigating the self‐assessed clinical competence of new nurses working in emergency departments.

Design

A quantitative approach using descriptive cross‐sectional survey design was employed.

Methods

The clinical competency of the participants was assessed using the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse questionnaire, which contains the seven dimensions of clinical care, leadership, interpersonal relations, legal/ethical, professional development, teaching/coaching and critical thinking/research aptitude. Data from 115 new nurses employed in emergency departments of nine selected university hospitals in the northwest of Iran were collected by the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse (CIRN) from December 2018–May 2019 and analysed.

Results

The mean clinical competency for the total scale was 155.7 (SD 32.9), indicating a moderate competency. The most highly self‐rated competency was legal/ethical practice, and the least rated was critical thinking–research aptitude.

Psychometric evaluation of the Nurse Competence Scale: A cross-sectional study

Measuring nurses' competence for practice is critical for quality and safety improvement in nursing care and patient outcomes. While the Nurse Competence Scale is a widely used international measure of the generic nursing competence of nurses in various career stages, it has not been used in Thailand. This study involved the forward-backward translation of the scale into Thai and evaluation of its psychometric properties with 571 nurses at one public and one private hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Participants also completed a demographic form. The content validity analysis revealed that the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) was .90, and the scale-level content validity index (S-CVI/Average) was .91. The principal component analysis with varimax rotation demonstrated that the six factor structure accounted for 58.45% of the total variance. The Mann-Whitney U-test showed a significant difference between low and high work experience groups for all six factors, providing further support for the scale's construct validity. The reliability analysis showed an acceptable level of Cronbach's alphas in six factors ranging from .82 to .88. In conclusion, the Thai version demonstrated promising psychometric properties, but requires further testing with nurses in different settings before use in practice.

A cross-sectional study into medical students' perceptions of healthcare regulation and self-reported compliance: a study conducted in the City of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, 2016

BACKGROUND

Although healthcare regulation is commonplace, there is limited evidence of its impact. Making sure that healthcare professionals comply with the regulatory requirements is a prerequisite to achieving effective regulation. Therefore, investigating factors that influence compliance may provide better insights into how regulators can be more effective. This study aimed to find out if medical students' perceptions of regulation in the United Arab Emirates are associated with self-reported regulatory compliance.

METHODS

In the cross-sectional study, we administered a structured questionnaire to students of medicine with different statements concerning their perceptions of healthcare regulation and self-reported compliance. The statements included statement regarding the legitimacy, fairness and regulatory performance, as well as the risk to getting caught and being punished. The association between perceptions and self-reported compliance was analyzed using multiple regression models.

RESULTS

One hundred and six Year 3 and 4 pre-clinical medicine students (56.4% response rate) completed the survey. Almost 40% of the students rated their level of awareness and understanding of regulation as Good or Very Good., despite their lack of direct contact with the regulatory authorities (less than 10% reported monthly or more frequent contact). Self-reported compliance was high with almost 85% of the students either agreeing or strongly agreeing with the four compliance statements (mean score 4.1 out of 5). The findings suggest that positive perceptions of the regulator's performance (β 0.27; 95% CI 0.13-0.41), fairness of the regulatory processes (β 0.25; 95% CI 0.11-0.38) and its legitimacy (β 0.23; 95% CI 0.05-0.41), are stronger associated with compliance than the perceived risks of getting caught and being punished (β 0.10; 95% CI -0.04 - 0.23).

CONCLUSIONS

To improve compliant behavior, healthcare regulators should pay more attention to their own perceived performance, as well as the perceived fairness and legitimacy of their regulatory processes rather than focusing on more traditional methods of deterrence, such as perceived risk of getting caught and being published.