Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gardulf, Ann
• Nilsson, Jan
• Florin, Jan
• Leksell, Janeth
• Lepp, Margret
• Lindholm, Christina
• Nordström, Gun
• Theander, Kersti
• Wilde-Larsson, Bodil
• Carlsson, Marianne
• Johansson, Eva

Titel

The Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale: Self-reported competence among nursing students on the point of graduation

Ist Teil von

• Nurse education today, 2016-01, Vol.36, p.165-171

Ort / Verlag

Scotland: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• International organisations, e.g. WHO, stress the importance of competent registered nurses (RN) for the safety and quality of healthcare systems. Low competence among RNs has been shown to increase the morbidity and mortality of inpatients. To investigate self-reported competence among nursing students on the point of graduation (NSPGs), using the Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale, and to relate the findings to background factors. The NPC Scale consists of 88 items within eight competence areas (CAs) and two overarching themes. Questions about socio-economic background and perceived overall quality of the degree programme were added. In total, 1086 NSPGs (mean age, 28.1 [20–56]years, 87.3% women) from 11 universities/university colleges participated. NSPGs reported significantly higher scores for Theme I “Patient-Related Nursing” than for Theme II “Organisation and Development of Nursing Care”. Younger NSPGs (20–27years) reported significantly higher scores for the CAs “Medical and Technical Care” and “Documentation and Information Technology”. Female NSPGs scored significantly higher for “Value-Based Nursing”. Those who had taken the nursing care programme at upper secondary school before the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programme scored significantly higher on “Nursing Care”, “Medical and Technical Care”, “Teaching/Learning and Support”, “Legislation in Nursing and Safety Planning” and on Theme I. Working extra paid hours in healthcare alongside the BSN programme contributed to significantly higher self-reported scores for four CAs and both themes. Clinical courses within the BSN programme contributed to perceived competence to a significantly higher degree than theoretical courses (93.2% vs 87.5% of NSPGs). Mean scores reported by NSPGs were highest for the four CAs connected with patient-related nursing and lowest for CAs relating to organisation and development of nursing care. We conclude that the NPC Scale can be used to identify and measure aspects of self-reported competence among NSPGs. •We used the NPC scale to investigate self-reported competence among nursing students.•Highest competence was reported for “Patient-Related Nursing”.•Lowest competence was reported for “Organisation and Development”.•Clinical courses contributed to a higher degree than theoretical courses.•Working extra paid hours in healthcare contributed to higher competence.