Comparative Study of the Clinical Competence of Emergency Nurses Using Self-Assessments and Head Nurse Evaluations
Abstract Background: Clinical competency is the ability of nurses to play a professional role in a clinical environment, especially in an emergency department, in terms of the quality of the services provided. The present study aimed to compare the clinical competence of emergency department nurses using self-assessments and evaluations by head nurses. Method: A descriptive-analytical study was conducted from July to September 2017. The census method was used to select 70 nurses working in the emergency departments of three hospitals. Data was collected by using self-assessment questionnaires and evaluations by head nurses. The instrument was a clinical competency questionnaire with questions related to seven functional fields and 63 skills. The data obtained from descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed by SPSS-16. Result: The viewpoints of nurses and head nurses on the clinical competencies of nurses were assessed as being at a moderate level in the majority of domains. Nurses defined their clinical competencies at a significantly higher level than the head nurses (P<0.05). Conclusion: The periodic assessment of emergency nurses, as a critical part of the hospital, can guide nursing managers to pay attention to professional competence and promote continuing education programs for improving their competencies.