Abstract
The management of cardiovascular patients requires increasingly competent nursing professionals. In Italy, there are no specific postgraduate courses focused on specialist cardiac skills development for nurses. To develop such courses, content incorporating appropriate competencies is required and this study was designed to meet this. To delineate a set of core competencies to develop national educational interventions to ensure cardiac nurses in Italy achieve international standards. A three-round e-Delphi study including a panel of 32 expert cardiac nurses from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy was conducted; 26 respondents completed all three rounds. The first round sought a list of five competencies from each participant which they were asked to prioritize in Round 2. In Round 3, they were asked to prioritize again with the knowledge of the priorities identified in Round 2. The final list of competencies was those achieving 70% agreement among participants. We identified 14 core competencies spanning a range of areas of competence including technical, interpersonal, health promotion, use of evidence, and management. Only minor differences were evident between the Italian and the international panel regarding the priority given to some core competences, such a leadership and taking patient history. This is the first study in Italy to delineate cardiac nurses' core competencies. As such, it provides a foundation for the development of postgraduate educational programmes for cardiac nurses including competencies that are congruent with international standards.
Highlights
Due to rapid advances in science, technology, medicine and nursing, cardiac nurses need to update, redefine and align their practice and education with the best available international evidence and standards
This is the first study in Italy to delineate cardiac nurses’ core competencies. It provides a foundation for the development of postgraduate educational programmes for cardiac nurses including competencies that are congruent with international standards
Some differences were observed in the number of times each competence was mentioned by international and Italian cardiac nurses were related to: ‘Leadership skills; ‘Healthcare process’; ‘Organizational skills; and ‘Advanced education and training’
Summary
Due to rapid advances in science, technology, medicine and nursing, cardiac nurses need to update, redefine and align their practice and education with the best available international evidence and standards. This is necessary to ensure optimal care for the increasing number of people affected by cardiovascular disease, many of whom are often admitted and readmitted to hospital, and increasingly, especially in the case of heart failure, cared for in the community.[1] Nurses play a central role in the education and support of patients and families with cardiovascular diseases.[2]. Content incorporating appropriate competencies is required and this study was designed to meet this
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