Abstract
Competence can be seen as a prerequisite for high quality nursing in clinical settings. Few research studies have focused on nurses' core competencies in clinical palliative care and few measurement tools have been developed to explore these core competencies. The purpose of this study was to test and validate the nurses' core competence in palliative care (NCPC) instrument. A total of 122 clinical nurse specialists who had completed a postbachelor program in palliative care at two university colleges in Norway answered the questionnaire. The initial analysis, with structural equation modelling, was run in Mplus 7. A modified confirmatory factor analysis revealed the following five domains: knowledge in symptom management, systematic use of the Edmonton symptom assessment system, teamwork skills, interpersonal skills, and life closure skills. The actual instrument needs to be tested in a practice setting with a larger sample to confirm its usefulness. The instrument has the potential to be used to refine clinical competence in palliative care and be used for the training and evaluation of palliative care nurses.
Highlights
With populations aging, more persons are living with the effects of serious illness
Palliative care in Norway has been closely integrated with cancer care units; palliative care units and their specialists remain limited in number [4]
The instrument should be tested in other countries and cultures and supplemented with new evidence about clinical competence in palliative care
Summary
More persons are living with the effects of serious illness. Persons with incurable illness need clinical assessments and care from a wide range of healthcare services [1, 2]. The demand for skilled services to help individuals with incurable and life-limiting diseases and their families will increase in the coming years [3]. Palliative care in Norway has been closely integrated with cancer care units; palliative care units and their specialists remain limited in number [4]. To improve the quality of palliative end-of-life care, clinicians’ competence has been emphasized for some years, in regard to the assessment of symptoms [5]. A clear need exists for a validated instrument for use in assessing nurses’ competence in palliative care
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