Assessment of Staff Nurses’ Competencies Related to Safety Measure for Specific Practices

Abstract

Background: Nursing competency and safety of nursing practice are major concerns in nursing educational and clinical practice settings that decrease errors made by nurses. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) report in 2005 indicated that 25% of sentinel events in healthcare were related to nursing errors and the majority of these errors related to incompetence of health care workers. Aim of the study: to assess staff nurses’ competencies related to safety measure for specific practices. Research design: Descriptive research design was used in this study. Sample: Sixty nurses. Setting: Medical and Surgical Department at Minia University Hospital and Matai District Hospital. Tool of data collection: one tool, divided into two parts, part (1) included socio-demographic data sheet and part (2) included check list performance. Results: it was noted that two-third (63.3%) of nurses at Minia University Hospital didn’t do the infection control measures compared to only one-third (33.3%) among Matai Hospital. There was statistical significant positive correlation between infection control competency, medication administration safety and environmental safety in both hospitals (p=0.001). Also, this study revealed that there is low competency level of staff nurses due to the lack of nursing competency assessment for nurses. Conclusion: this study revealed that there is low competency level of staff nurses, also it is important for integrating a structured nursing competency assessment that measures nursing competence in the nursing care delivery systems and determining the competency levels of nurses to ensure safe nursing practice. Recommendation: Provide self-competency assessment checklist which assists nurses to identify, maintain, and improve their nursing practice