Competence profiles for technicians in higher-level nursing, declared by different teaching institutions

Abstract

The career of Technician in Higher-Level Nursing (TENS in Spanish) is the technical career that has the higher number of students in Chile. There are important disparities among the higher education institutions that teach it. To analyze differences in competencies declared in TENS career graduate profiles by type of higher education institution. Using Atlas.ti 7, we carried out a content analysis of 31 graduate profiles of TENS, published in websites of Universities, Professional Institutes and Technical Training Centers that teach the career, during 2019. Procedural competencies are predominant in graduate profiles, followed by interpersonal ones, with cognitive and ethics competencies being the least declared. Accredited higher education institutions consistently declare more cognitive and ethics competencies than those that are not accredited. There is a procedural bias in graduate profiles, which tends to under declare cognitive and ethics competencies, fundamental for decision-making processes.