The Survey of Competence and its Relationship with the Frequency of Use among the New Nurses Working in Tabriz Emergency Departments

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Clinical competence in nursing is one of the important factors influencing patient safety and quality of care. The competency of all nurses must be assessed in order to provide safe care, protect the public, and maintain the credibility of nurses. The World Health Organization (WHO) also emphasized the importance of ensuring nursing competency levels to provide high-quality nursing care. The aim of this study was to examines the relationships between the self-assessed level of clinical competence and the frequency of use among the new nurses working in emergency departments. Methods: A quantitative approach using a descriptive correlational design was employed. Data collection was conducted by using Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse (CIRN) using a conveinance sampling method. The CIRN consists of 55 competence items with seven dimensions which included clinical care, leadership, interpersonal relations, legal/ethical, professional development, teaching/coaching and critical thinking/research aptitude. The total score range is 0 to 220. 115 new nurses with ≤ 3 years of nursing experience in emergency departments of nine selected university hospitals in the northwest Iran were invited to participate in 2018. Response rate was 95.38%. The data were analyzed by using statistical methods and SPSS software. Results: The CIRN scores ranged218-70 with a mean score of 155.7 (SD=32.9), indicating overall middle level competency. The emergency department new nurses assessed themselves to be most competent in skills and tasks falling into the categories of the Legal/ethical practice. The lowest level of competence was shown in the dimensions of Teaching-coaching and Critical thinking-research aptitude. The overall level of the frequency of using the competencies in practice as perceived by new nurses was high. A statistically significant association was seen between competence level and the frequency of using competencies, marital status, total clinical experience, having Nursing Professional Qualification License, and participation in Communication Skills Training Courses. Conclusion: There is a need to improve emergency departments’ new nurses’ clinical competence especially in dimentions of teaching and coaching , and critical thinking-research aptitude.