Critical Practice Study of Nursing Evaluated by Teachers

Abstract

Purpose: Competent nursing care is essential to positive patient outcomes and quality patient care. Graduate nurses begin practice as novices in knowledge and experience often entering an environment where patients have several disease processes complicating their care. A strong foundation of educational competencies prior to entering practice is vital for the development and growth of graduate nurses into the role of RN. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of the Nurse Competence Scale among nursing faculty. Method: Nursing faculty were surveyed to determine which competencies were a priority in nursing practice. The Nurse Competence Scale was used to identify and categorize nurse competences. Brenner’s novice to expert theoretical framework was used to apply findings to curricular programs. IRB approval was granted from each educational institution. SPSS statistical analysis was used to analyze survey results. Results: Among the categories of the Nurse Competence Scale, nursing faculty identified Acting appropriately in life-threatening situations in the Managing Situations section as most important to practice. In the category of Helping, Planning patient care according to individual needs was identified as most important. Additionally the nursing faculty surveyed rated Contributing to further development of multidisciplinary clinical paths in the Therapeutic Interventions category as the lowest.