Emergency care nurses’ self-reported clinical competence before and after postgraduate education - a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Changing prerequisites in healthcare leads to the increased complexity of nursing. Since there are no regulations on re-validation of competencies for emergency nurses in Sweden there is sparse knowledge on how nurses develop competencies after registration as nurses (RN). Aim: To describe self-reported professional competence after postgraduate education among RNs in emergency care settings. Method: A cross-sectional design and STROBE guidelines were used. The short version of the Nurse Professional Competence Scale was used for data collection and the data were collected before and after postgraduate education, descriptive and comparative statistic was used for analysis. Results: 62 (71%) students participated in the first data collection and an independent group of 31 (48%) students participated in the second data collection. The results showed generally good competencies before entering education and significantly improved competencies after education were found in areas of working independently and reviewing literature for evidence-based nursing Conclusion: The competencies were assessed as very good after education. Evaluating nurses' competencies supports educators in developing education to ensure the need for knowledge in emergency care. To ensure required competencies among emergency care nurses there is a need to regulate additional training and re-validation of emergency nurses’ competencies.