THE LEVEL OF NURSING COMPETENCES IN DIFFERENT PERIODS OF THE PROFESSIONAL CAREER - A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Competence is a skill acquired through learning and experience. Nursing competence is a complex integration of knowledge including professional judgment, skills, values and attitude. Competency assessment should begin during nursing education and continue throughout the nursing career. The level of competence is important for quality assurance in the provision of nursing care. Aim: It was to provide a review of the current literature regarding the level of competence of nurses at different stages of their career. Method: For this literature review, scientific publications were searched in the CINAHL and PubMed databases. The search was made with English language terms limited to the last 10 years. Results: Nurses rated their overall competence as good to very good in 18 studies, and undergraduate students rated their competence lower than average in seven studies. After a one-year educational intervention program, nurses reported an increase in their competency scores. Higher age, educational level, additional training and work experience were also associated with higher competencies. Conclusions: The results of the studies showed differences in the level of competence of nurses at different stages of their career. Competency assessment is needed to provide current evidence to nursing managers, policy makers, and educators