Aim
The aim of this study was to report a systematic and psychometric review.
Background
The Nurse Competence Scale is currently the most widely used generic instrument to measure Registered Nurses’ ...competence in different phases of their careers. Based on a decade of research, this review provides a summary of the existing evidence.
Design
A systematic literature review of research evidence and psychometric properties.
Data sources
Nine databases from 2004 ‐ October 2015.
Review methods
We retrieved scientific publications in English and Finnish. Two researchers performed data selection and appraised the methodological quality using the COnsensus‐based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments checklist.
Results
A total of 30 studies reported in 43 publications were included. These consisted of over 11,000 competence assessments. Twenty studies were from Europe and 10 from outside Europe. In addition to experienced nurses, the Nurse Competence Scale has been used for the competence assessment of newly graduated nurses and nursing students, mainly in hospital settings. Length of work experience, age, higher education, permanent employment and participation in educational programmes correlated positively with competence. Variables including empowerment, commitment, practice environment, quality of care and critical thinking were also associated with higher competence. The Nurse Competence Scale has demonstrated good content validity and appropriate internal consistency.
Conclusion
The value of Nurse Competence Scale has been confirmed in determining relationships between background variables and competence. The instrument has been widely used with experienced and newly graduated nurses and their managers. Cross‐cultural validation must be continued using rigorous methods.
The importance of competence assessment in anaesthesia nursing education has increased since nurse educators and anaesthesia care employers have identified the gap between nursing education and ...nursing practice. In order to ensure nursing students' preparedness for entry into anaesthesia nursing practice, it is necessary to measure whether nursing students have achieved the required competence to practice as anaesthesia care providers.
To assess the anaesthesia nursing competence of nursing students and to describe factors related to their anaesthesia nursing competence. This study will provide new knowledge to support the curricula of nursing education and new nurses' practice in anaesthesia care.
Cross-sectional survey design.
Data from a sample of Finnish nursing students (n = 205) were collected by using an on-line/paper and pencil survey (the Anaesthesia Nursing Competence Scale, 7 categories) in 2017. The assessment was based on self-assessment and used a Visual Analogue Scale (0−100). Descriptive statistics, a Pearson correlation coefficient, independent sample t-tests and a multivariable regression were used to analyse the data.
The self-assessed overall competence of graduating nursing students was 59 (range 43–73). Approximately half of the students reached an acceptable level (60≤) and half did not. The highest self-assessed category was collaboration within patient care, and the lowest was knowledge of anaesthesia patient care. The number of credits, anaesthesia courses, and experience of clinical practice in anaesthesia nursing were significantly related to anaesthesia nursing competence.
Competence development in the knowledge of anaesthesia patient care should be considered in general nursing education. Student nurses' competence could be developed by providing more opportunities for theoretical studies and clinical practice in anaesthesia nursing. A specialised post-registration education in anaesthesia nursing might be one solution to overcome the limitations in the competence that general nursing education is not fully able to cover for anaesthesia nursing.
Rationale, aims, and objectives
The competence of nurses in anaesthesia care is important for the quality of anaesthesia nursing care and patient safety. However, there is a lack of psychometrically ...tested instruments to measure the competence. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of an anaesthesia nursing competence scale (AnestComp) assessing nurses' competence in anaesthesia care.
Method
The scale development and psychometric testing had three phases: (1) based on literature reviews and the description of experts, competence areas were identified and items were created; (2) the content validity of the scale was tested by a content expert group, and the scale was pilot tested; and (3) psychometric testing of scale was tested by anaesthesia nurses' (n = 222) and nursing students' (n = 205) self‐assessments. The psychometric testing assessed the reliability when using Cronbach's α and the construct validity using factor analyses (confirmatory and exploratory) and known‐group technique. Nursing students were included for the purpose of construct validity testing.
Results
The AnestComp has 39 items and consists of seven competence areas: (a) ethics of anaesthesia care, (b) patient's risk care, (c) patient engagement with technology, (d) collaboration within patient care, (e) anaesthesia patient care with medication, (f) peri‐anaesthesia nursing intervention, and (g) knowledge of anaesthesia patient care. Cronbach's α values were high in all categories (0.83‐0.95), and factor analyses and known‐group technique supported a seven‐factor model.
Conclusion
The initial results supported the reliability and construct validity of the AnestComp. The scale is considered a promising instrument for measuring anaesthesia nursing competence among anaesthesia nurses. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is suggested to refine the current psychometric evaluation.
The purpose of this review was to analyse post-registration anaesthesia nursing education in the Nordic countries. The analysis was based on key determinants fundamental to analysing nursing ...education: 1) the system of anaesthesia nursing education, 2) entry requirements, 3) credits, the duration and the title or degree awarded, and 4) the amount of practical training.
A scoping review was approached in a systematic manner. The literature was analysed using deductive content analysis. Data was gathered based on key determinants. The data were quantified into frequencies and percentages to compare the similarities and differences of anaesthesia nursing.
The Nordic countries have different types of post-registration anaesthesia nursing education from non-degree supplementary programmes to Master's degree programmes. Even though the entry requirements correspond between countries, many more differences than similarities in anaesthesia nursing education were noted. A title granting the right to work as a nurse anaesthetist can be obtained through a variety of educational systems, credit requirements, the duration, and the amount of practical training in post-registration anaesthesia nursing programmes.
This aim of the study was to analyse post-registration anaesthesia nursing education from the Nordic perspective. Harmonising the educational system and minimum education requirements in anaesthesia nursing education is recommended in order to facilitate free movement and assure the quality of care from the Nordic perspective. Since each Nordic country has its own native language, it was difficult to gather information from all the Nordic countries. Therefore, creating common educational database published in English can help to bench mark each country's educational system.
Objective: Assessing the level of competence of nurses in anaesthesia care is important not only in ensuring the quality of anaesthesia care, but also in developing a competence-based nursing ...education programme. This study aimed to assess Finnish nurses’ competence in anaesthesia nursing and to describe factors associated with it. This study will provide knowledge to support a competence-based education approach to anaesthesia nursing.Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used. A self-assessment (Anaesthesia Nursing Competence Scale) was developed for this study. The scale (39 items, 7 domains) used a Visual Analogue Scale (0 = not competent at all, 100 = excellent). Data were collected from registered nurses (n = 222) in anaesthesia departments at university hospitals in Finland (May-October 2017).Results: The overall level of anaesthesia nursing competence was self-assessed as good (Mean 88, SD 9.0). Of the seven competence domains, collaboration within patient care was assessed as being the highest and knowledge of anaesthesia patient care the lowest. Longer work experience and completion of specialised anaesthesia nursing education were factors positively associated with anaesthesia nursing competence.Conclusions: This study suggests that the general nursing education of nurses should provide more opportunities to improve nurses’ competence in the theoretical knowledge of anaesthesia. A specialised programme of anaesthesia nursing education at a master’s level might be one suggestion to meet the challenges in anaesthesia nursing in Finland. Further studies with different data collection methods such as observation, a knowledge test, or patient interviews would provide a more extensive picture of anaesthesia nursing competence.
To identify competence assessment instruments in perianesthesia nursing care and to describe the validity and reliability of the instruments.
A scoping review in a systematic manner.
A search in ...CINAHL, MEDLINE, and ERIC was carried out to identify empirical studies from 1994 to 2015. A narrative synthesis approach was undertaken to analyze the data.
Nine competence assessment instruments in perianesthesia nursing care were identified. The instruments used three types of data collection methods: Self-report, observation, and written examinations. The most commonly reported validity method was content validity involving expert panels and reliability tests for internal consistency and inter-rater's consistency.
Integrating more than one data collection method may give support to overcoming some of the limitations, such as lack of objectivity and misinterpretation of the assessment results. In an ever-changing environment, perianesthesia nursing competence requires constant reassessment from the perspective of content validity, scoring methods, and reliability.
ABSTRACT
Background
Observing a patient's clinical condition is an important responsibility of critical care nurses and an essential component of their competence. Critical care nurses' patient ...observation skills contribute to patient safety and quality of care. These observation skills have not been assessed or measured previously.
Aim
The aim of this study was to measure the self‐assessed level of critical care nurses' patient observation skills and to explore the factors associated with these skills.
Study design
This was a multicentre cross‐sectional survey conducted in Finland.
Methods
The sample consisted of critical care nurses working at Finnish university hospitals. The data were collected between September 2017 and January 2018 using an instrument developed for the study – Patient Observation Skills in Critical Care Nursing (visual analogue scale 0–100). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.
Results
A total of 372 critical care nurses (49%) responded. Finnish critical care nurses assessed their patient observation skills overall as excellent. The bio‐physiological foundation was assessed as good, whereas skills in using observation methods and skills in recognizing changing clinical condition were assessed as excellent. Education for special tasks in intensive care units, information searching in scientific journals, working experience in critical care nursing and critical care nurses' perception of critical care as a preferred field of nursing were factors promoting patient observation skills.
Conclusions and relevance to clinical practice
The study provided a novel instrument for measuring critical care nurses' patient observation skills. The instrument may be used as an assessment tool in clinical practice and education. Developing orientation and on‐the‐job training in intensive care units are essential in assuring critical care nurses' adequate patient observation skills. Patient observation skills could be developed during nursing education by providing students with opportunities for clinical training and applying patient cases in virtual learning environments.
As the use of mobile data services has spread across the globe, the effect of cultural differences on user requirements has become important issue. To date, however, little research has been ...conducted on the role cultural factors play in the design of mobile data services. This paper proposes a set of critical design attributes for mobile data services that takes cross-cultural differences into account. To determine these attributes, we devised a qualitative method and conducted in-depth long interviews in Korea, Japan, and Finland. We found 52 attributes considered important by mobile data service users, and 11 critical attributes that showed a clear correlation with characteristics of the user's culture. The paper concludes with a discussion of limitations and of implications for developers of mobile data services.
Aplastic anemia (AA) and pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) appear to be more prevalent in Asian countries including Korea. However, there are no exact data regarding its prevalence and frequency of ...allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in Korea. Here, we present demographic data relating to AA/PRCA/MDS in Korea. Data were prepared by retrieval from a computerized database maintained by the National Health Insurance Service and Korea National Statistical Office. HCT data were collected from all HCT centers in Korea. The crude incidence rate of AA decreased from 2002 to 2010 and from 35 to 28 per million persons. Females were more affected by AA. The peak ages of onset of AA were in the seventh decade or older. The frequency of HCT for AA increased from 2002 to 2012 and from 69 to 131 per year. The crude incidence rates of MDS increased from 2002 to 2010, with 8–20 per million persons, and the frequency of HCT also increased, from 30 in 2002 to 132 in 2011. Even allowing for the possibility of overestimation, the crude incidence of AA is significantly higher in Korea than in western countries.
Background: In allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myeloablative conditioning (MAC) regimens have been considered as standard ...conditioning. MAC can reduce the risk of relapse, but increase non-relapse mortality, including organ toxicity and severe graft versus host disease. Therefore, the optimal busulfan dose in conditioning regimens has not been established in younger patients with AML. Thus, we aimed to investigate post-HCT outcomes according to the busulfan dose of conditioning regimens in younger patients with AML.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed long-term outcomes according to the busulfan dose (2 days vs. 3 days vs. 4 days) in 686 adult patients (age <55 years) with AML who had undergone HCT between 2000 and 2020 at the Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. The clinical data was collected from the Asan Medical Center HCT registry. Patients with AML who had undergone a second or third HCT were excluded from this study.
Results: The median age was 41 (range 15-54). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rate was 52.2% and 46.4%, respectively. The 3 days of busulfan (Bu3) (n=88) showed significantly higher OS than 4 days of busulfan (Bu4) (n=229) and 2 days of busulfan (Bu2) (n=369) (2-year OS; 76.1% vs. 65.1% and 56.3%, respectively; P<0.001). The EFS rate of Bu3 and Bu4 was significantly higher than that of Bu2 (2-year EFS; 60.2% and 59.8% vs. 46.9%, respectively; P<0.001). Among the three groups, there was no significant difference in GRFS (P=0.952). The cumulative incidence of relapse was significantly lower in Bu4 (26.2% at 2 years) than in Bu2 (40.4%) and Bu3 (36.4%) (P<0.001). However, the NRM was significantly higher in Bu4 (13.9% at 2 years) and Bu2 (12.7%) than in Bu3 (3.4%) (P=0.005). In HCT at complete remission (CR) status, Bu3 showed significantly better OS than Bu4 and Bu2 (P=0.039), whereas there was no significant difference in EFS according to the busulfan dose (P=0.121). In patients with refractory disease, however, the higher dose of busulfan (Bu3 or Bu4) did not show survival advantages in terms of OS (P=0.153) and EFS (P=0.829) over Bu2. Regarding donor types, Bu3 showed significantly better OS than Bu2 in HCT from matched sibling donors (MSD) (P=0.030) and haploidentical family donors (HFD) (P<0.001). However, in HCT from unrelated donors (URD), the Bu2 group showed the best GRFS, and OS in Bu2 or Bu3 was significantly longer than in Bu4 (P=0.028).
Conclusion: For younger patients with AML, Bu3 would be the optimal conditioning intensity in HCT from MSD or HFD at CR status. In URD, Bu2 or Bu3 would be appropriate. In refractory disease, increasing busulfan dose intensity could not improve post-HCT outcomes.
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