“Spanish Palliative Care Nurses’ Degree of Acceptance of a Proposal for Nursing Competencies in Palliative Care”

Background In Spain, palliative care (PC) nursing is not a recognized specialization and PC nurses do not receive systematic specialized academic training in PC. To ensure the quality of PC in Spain, the Spanish Association of Palliative Care Nursing has been working since 2011 to design a model of competencies for PC nurses. Objective: Verify whether a sample of Spanish PC nurses accepts the proposed model of PC nursing competencies describing their work. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional observational study based on an ad-hoc questionnaire about 98 proposed competencies, which participants rated for whether they belong to the purview of PC nurses and for their degree of concordance with their own practice and their degree of importance in PC nursing. Competencies receiving approval by more than 75% of participants for the three dimensions were considered to have been accepted by consensus. Mixed logistical models were developed to study the association between demographic variables and the responses. Results: Sixty-two out of 98 proposed competencies were accepted by more than 75% of participants. We therefore considered these competencies to have been accepted by consensus. Thirty-six proposed competencies failed to meet the threshold of 75% acceptance. For competencies that were accepted overall, participants with more than 10 years of experience in PC and participants with specialized training in PC were more likely to report that these competencies were part of the purview of PC nursing. Participants age >50 were less likely to report that competencies related to research concorded with their practice. Participants accepted the importance of all 98 proposed competencies. Conclusion: The variables of experience, training and age had a statistically significant relationship with the acceptance or rejection of the proposed competencies on the basis of purview and concordance. Further research is necessary to understand more fully these relationships to eventually arrive at a consensus model for the competencies of PC nurses.

Public health core and nursing competencies among public health nurses in Ontario: a pilot study to assess awareness and utilization.

Purpose: This study describes influencing factors that public health core and public health nursing competency sets have had on public health nursing workforce development since their release in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Methods: A descriptive, non-experimental pilot study was conducted using Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework to explore awareness and utilization of public health core and nursing competencies among a sample of 221 public health nurses (PHNs) working in Ontario health units. Results: Findings suggest substantial awareness and moderate use of both competency sets among PHNs, with a statistically significant difference between management and front-line staff in level of awareness of core competencies only. Barrier/facilitator themes influencing competency set utilization frequently represented organizational factors, and were slightly different between competency sets. Implications: Results have implications for knowledge translation efforts of competencies integration into practice and addressing barriers to precluding competency-based public health nursing workforce policy and planning.

Public health core and nursing competencies among public health nurses in Ontario: a pilot study to assess awareness and utilization.

Purpose: This study describes influencing factors that public health core and public health nursing competency sets have had on public health nursing workforce development since their release in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Methods: A descriptive, non-experimental pilot study was conducted using Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework to explore awareness and utilization of public health core and nursing competencies among a sample of 221 public health nurses (PHNs) working in Ontario health units. Results: Findings suggest substantial awareness and moderate use of both competency sets among PHNs, with a statistically significant difference between management and front-line staff in level of awareness of core competencies only. Barrier/facilitator themes influencing competency set utilization frequently represented organizational factors, and were slightly different between competency sets. Implications: Results have implications for knowledge translation efforts of competencies integration into practice and addressing barriers to precluding competency-based public health nursing workforce policy and planning.

Evaluation of Disaster Nursing Competencies for Undergraduate Nursing Students in China: A Study Using a Modified Delphi Technique

This study aims to set up a system to evaluate nursing competencies in disaster preparedness for undergraduates and influencing factors in China. The evaluation system was established by using the modified Delphi. There were 3 phases in this study: 1) an environmental scan; 2) setting framework; 3) adjusting indicators based on the modified Delphi. The questionnaire for these undergraduates lied in their basic information and assessment of nursing competencies in disaster preparedness. Based on the survey, the average score of nursing competencies in disaster preparedness for undergraduate nursing students surveyed was 3.10 (out of 5). In addition, gender, grade, inhabitation, and disaster drills of the students were four factors affecting nursing competencies of undergraduates. This study indicates that the present nursing competencies in disaster preparedness for undergraduates are weak, and it is essential to strengthen nursing education in disaster preparedness for undergraduates.