”Har man ingen emotionell intelligens och kan visa omsorg för andra människor är det ingenting värt” : En kvalitativ studie om sjuksköterskans möjligheter till kompetensutveckling

This is a qualitative study with a purpose: to investigate how the nurses perceive their possibilities to develop their own competence. The study is on behalf of Norrbottens läns landsting. Three research questions are: “how do nurses define their competence”; - “do nurses experience any obstacles to the development of their competence?” and “What responsibility do nurses believe that they have for their own competence development?”The empirical material has been collected out through interviews with seven nurses employed by Norrbottens country council, their participation was completely anonymous and voluntary. The theoretical framework of the study is Anthony Giddens' theory of construction in which he argues that all human actions can reconnect to structures. The concept of competence is explored in relation to the nursing profession and the influence of New Public Management on health care in Sweden is also considered. The indication is that these nurses know which opportunities are available to them in relation to the development of their competence but believe that the information provided is inadequate. They feel that they must find out which opportunities are available by themself. They also feel that Norrbottens County Council prevents them from taking opportunities to develop their competence because they offer insufficient study benefits and the increase in salary increase after competence development is insignificant.Keywords: Formal competence, informal competence, competence development, new public management, Norrbottens County Council.Validerat; 20130628 (global_studentproject_submitter