Competency model for academic excellence in nursing educators

Abstract

IntroductionThere is currently no common criterion with regard to the teaching skills that the educators on the nursing degree should have. As a result, the training of these professionals is generally minimal and very heterogeneous. The purpose of the study was to determine the importance of the teaching competencies that nurse educators should have, by developing a competency model that can be used to design future training sessions for these professionals. Material and MethodsA map of competencies was designed for educators on the nursing degree following a review of the literature. An online self-administered questionnaire was created in order to determine the importance given by teachers to each of the proposed competencies, by using the Likert scale. The data was collected in an electronic database and statistically analysed. ResultsA total of 327 nurse educators from different Spanish universities participated in the study. In general, all competencies were rated as important, with scores of 4,3 and above out of 5. Those with the highest scores were disciplinary competence (4,68), interpersonal communication competence (4,66) and planning competence (4,61). An intraclass correlation coefficient of 0,968 was obtained, which showed an excellent level of agreement among participants. ConclusionIt is considered that the proposed model of teaching competencies for nurse educators is appropriate and meets the needs of these professionals in terms of pedagogy and teaching methodology. Therefore, it should be considered as a tool for the development of future training plans.