Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Professional Competence”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Clinical quality management in Air Force optometry.

BACKGROUND: Promoting professional competence, providing quality care, and improving health care processes are issues of major importance in Air Force Optometry as well as the entire Air Force Medical Service. METHODS: Clinical Quality Management is the mechanism through which these issues are addressed. Without a Quality Management Program, accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is impossible. RESULTS: The two main components of Clinical Quality Management; the credentials/privileging process and quality assessment and improvement, are presented to discuss how they are used in Air Force Optometry. CONCLUSION: Clinical Quality Management is not a perfect management method, but it does force professionals and organizations to constantly assess themselves in order to effect improvements.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed2006

Temporal and group-related trends in peer assessment amongst medical students.

Peer assessment has been increasingly recommended as a way to evaluate the professional competencies of medical trainees. Prior studies have only assessed single groups measured at a single timepoint. Thus, neither the longitudinal stability of such ratings nor differences between groups using the same peer-assessment instrument have been reported previously. Participants were all members of 2 consecutive classes of medical students (n = 77 and n = 85) at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry who completed Years 2 and 3 of medical school consecutively. All participants were evaluated by 6-12 classmates near the end of both Years 2 and 3. Main outcome measures were mean numerical ratings on peer-assessed scales of professional work habits (WH) and interpersonal attributes (IA). Both scales had high internal consistencies in both years (Cronbach's alpha 0.84-0.94). The IA and WH scales were moderately correlated with one another (r = 0.36 in Year 2, r = 0.28 in Year 3). Year 2 scores were predictive of Year 3 scores for both scales (WH: r = 0.64; IA; r = 0.62). Generalisability and decision analyses revealed that 1 class was consistently more discriminating with the WH scale, while the other was more discriminating with of the IA scale. Depending on the class, year and scale, the number of raters needed to achieve a reasonable reliability ranged between 7 and 28. Although Year 3 peer ratings were consistently higher than Year 2 peer ratings for both WH and IA, individual scores were highly correlated across the 2 years, despite the fact that different individuals were chosen as peer raters. Abilities appear to be stable between Years 2 and 3 of medical school. Groups may differ in their ability to discriminate different kinds of skills. Generalisability analysis can be used to discover these patterns within groups.

Education, Dental↗
PubMed1990

Rationale and development of an institutional pediatric chemotherapy certification course.

In a large pediatric teaching hospital located in the southwestern part of the United States, few nurses had participated in a formal program that taught the knowledge and skills required for the nurse to care for the patient receiving chemotherapy. In order to enhance the necessary clinical competency of the nursing staff, a Chemotherapy Certification Course was developed for this institution. In reviewing the literature there was minimal information on how to develop such a program. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of this course with the intent that it can serve as a guide in facilitating and implementing such a course in other institutions. As more hospitals adopt institutional certification as a form of continuing education in cancer nursing, perhaps the gap between knowledge and practice will decrease. The institutional certification course will be a significant step toward improving the level of practice of nurses caring for patients receiving chemotherapy. The goal of promoting professional competence will benefit the nurse, the institution, and patients and their families.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed2001

The state of ambulatory surgery and perianesthesia nursing.

The continued success of the ambulatory surgery environment of care has been achieved through patient, physician, and nursing staff satisfaction. The growth in this industry has been greatly influenced by advances in technology, as well as the development and administration of newer anesthetic agents. The implications delineated in this article provide an overview of what is in store for the specialty of perianesthesia nursing. Issues of competency, professional excellence, patient expectations, continuous quality improvement, research, and ethics have become part of the daily lexicon. Never before has the professional nurse been counted on for so much, and future expectations of the nurse continue to grow. To survive, the nurse needs to expand the boundaries of nursing practice as they have been defined. Nurses are the backbone of the delivery of patient care, nurses are on the front line guiding the patient through every care decision, and nurses are positioned to influence the continued evolution of ambulatory surgery and perianesthesia nursing care.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed2006

Enhancing nursing students' clinical placement experiences: a quality improvement project.

Clinical experience is recognised as the core of nursing education. Quality clinical placements across a variety of venues are vital to the development of capable and competent professionals. However there is evidence, both anecdotal and empirical, suggesting that students' clinical placement experiences are fraught with problems. The quality improvement project described in this paper aimed to improve the clinical learning experience of nursing students by strengthening communication and partnerships between the university and the two local health services. To achieve this goal, clinicians' perceptions of the problems related to clinical placements and their recommendations for improvement were explored. Focus groups, brainstorming sessions, personal interviews and surveys were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Problems and priority issues were identified as more than five hundred clinicians expressed their concerns, claims and issues. Key findings from the project are described under five themes: communication breakdown between the university and clinicians; mentorship; preparation for clinical placements; clinical competence; and graduates' readiness for practice. Utilising a quality improvement framework this project promoted vigorous debate and dialogue between university and health service partners. The nature and extent of the problems surrounding clinical placements were examined, high priority issues targeted for improvement, and the subsequent results measured through feedback from clinicians and students. The success of this project, although impressive in the early stages, will depend upon ongoing communication and evaluation to ensure sustainability of the improvements made.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2006

Factors in optimizing the learning environment for surgical training.

Today's surgeon is required to demonstrate a variety of professional competencies in an increasingly complex environment. Recently, the time available to train this surgeon has started to erode due to external pressures on administrators and faculty. This growing crisis has led to questions about how to optimize learning in the surgical environment. Clearly, to adequately train a competent surgeon in all the required aspects, multiple environments will be required. We must, therefore, look carefully at each environment to maximize its educational potential for each of the competencies. At the same time, however, we must ensure these educational environments and opportunities integrate into a coherent and systematic program of training that is flexible and adaptable to the individual needs of the trainees. This paper describes two broad areas that must be at the forefront of the community's thinking as we strive toward this goal: the irreplaceable value of a mentor and maximizing the potential of optimal challenge points in learning.

Humans↗
PubMed1993

A study of hospital nurses' attitudes toward continuing education in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.

The purpose of this study was to investigate hospital nurses' attitudes toward continuing education. Continuing education was defined as non-credit organized educational programs designed for nurses by hospitals, nursing institutions, or other related organizations to maintain or improve professional competence. It included "in-service education", "on-the-job training", and other synonymous educational activities. Six hundred and seventy-four randomly selected hospital nurses in Kaohsiung City participated in this study. The data was collected by delivering a 34-statement questionnaire through the directors of nursing. Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient was applied to determine the reliability with a value of 0.79. Factor analysis and a group of experts' suggestions were applied to determine the validity. Frequency distribution, Analysis of Variance, Scheffe' test, and Multiple Regression Analysis were conducted to analyze the research questions. The level of significance was set at 0.05 or less. The results indicated that the majority of nurses (92.65%) hold positive attitudes toward continuing education (M = 86.32). Nurses' attitudes toward continuing education were related to selected personal and professional characteristics, and hospital policies regarding continuing education. To maintain nurses' positive attitudes and to develop positive attitudes for those who hold negative attitudes, some strategies for continuing education should be considered by nursing administrators.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A literature review of patients' compared with nurses' perceptions of caring: implications for practice and research.

Caring is a salient feature of nursing practice and has been studied extensively from the nursing perspective. Nonetheless, little has been forthcoming in relation to patients' perceptions of the meanings and processes of caring. The present literature review shows that whereas nurse clinicians focus on the psychosocial aspects of caring, patients assign the highest value to technical skills and professional competence. Similarly to patients, a small proportion of nurses view competent clinical expertise as the fundamental component of caring. Noncaring behaviors include physical and emotional absence, belittling and inhumane actions, and lack of recognition of a patient's uniqueness. Patients' participation in decisions regarding their care may or may not be an element of a caring interaction. Ethnonursing studies describe the "caring culture" as one based on likeness, consensus, and conformity. Based on review findings, implications for practice and research are outlined.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1999

Pharmacists' concerns and perceived benefits from the deregulation of hormonal emergency contraception (HEC).

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain pharmacists' views, assess willingness for involvement and delineate individual perceived competence in the supply of deregulated hormonal emergency contraception (HEC). DESIGN: Cross-sectional postal questionnaire utilising closed, open and Likert-scale questions. SUBJECTS: Three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine registered pharmacists abstracted from the mailing list of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. RESULTS: In total 1543 (38.6%) questionnaires were returned and analysed. Overall 1165 (75.5%) of pharmacists stated their willingness to be involved in the deregulated supply of HEC. However, pharmacists identified the need for specific training before effective deregulation should take place. Overall, 616 (39.9%) of respondents felt individually competent to supply deregulated HEC with a positive association between perceived competence and willingness to supply deregulated HEC (p < 0.05). Pharmacists perceive the major benefits of deregulation to be a reduced unwanted pregnancy rate and a subsequent reduced abortion rate. They perceive that deregulation would allow quicker and less restricted access to HEC by clients, facilitating an increased overall supply of HEC. Pharmacists express a number of concerns, tempering their collective desire to see HEC deregulation. The majority of these concerns related to safeguarding clients and the possible adverse public health effects associated with the possible reduced use of barrier methods of contraception. CONCLUSIONS: Most pharmacists would be willing to supply HEC if it were deregulated to 'pharmacy only' from 'prescription only' medicine status. Although concerns were raised, these were mainly related to safety issues, with few pharmacists identifying moral and ethical barriers to deregulation. For effective deregulation to occur issues of professional competence need to be addressed.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed2005

Battlefield emergency care: a study of nurses' perspectives.

Recent implementation of modern armoured fighting vehicles in Swedish army forces has been substantial. In consequence, changes in the knowledge area of battlefield emergency care have been so large that a new professional competence is demanded. The aim of this study was to explore and describe how nurses perceive battlefield emergency care. A qualitative design was used comprising in-depth research interviews with 11 male registered nurses who all had been trained as company nurses in the Armed Forces. Three major themes were described; Unpredictable and invisible, a contextual leadership and assimilation acts. From the first major theme, the characteristic of battlefield emergency care is that it is unpredictable and invisible with the subthemes: menacing, unknown, challenging and complicated. From the next major theme, that a contextual leadership is important to have, with the subthemes: field manners, responsibility capacity and capacity to determine. The third major theme assimilation acts with the subthemes: experience from combat casualty care, education, working experience and by utilizing research findings. If we are to be able to offer patients individualised and qualitatively good professional care, emergency care must be conducted on the basis of scientific and well-tried experience.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1993

Limitations of liability insurance.

In the unfortunate event that you are sued for malpractice, the following suggestions could maximize the benefits of your professional liability insurance policy: Do not contact the claimant, because any statements you make can be used against you in a suit. Provide the insurer with as much information as possible. Monitor the case regularly by contacting the insurance adjuster assigned to the case and request copies of all documents generated. Communicate your feelings with the company about defending or settling the case. If you completely violated a standard of care such as giving an IV push medication to the wrong patient because of failure to check the patient's name bracelet, try to settle this case out of court. A jury would not likely be sympathetic to a nurse who injured a patient in this manner. Review the entire medical record and discuss your analysis with your attorney. Remember, as a policyholder, you have the right to demand that your claim be handled by a competent, professional lawyer. Unlike other professionals, attorneys are not required to have national certification. Defendants have the right to ask assigned attorneys about their malpractice experience. Does the attorney have a working knowledge of the procedures and technical jargon concerning the case? How many similar cases has the attorney handled? You have a right to these answers.

Critical Care↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sponsorship and sacrifice in the historical development of Canadian physiotherapy.

The Canadian physiotherapy profession developed from a small group of British nurse-masseuses, the Incorporated Society of Trained Maseuses (ISTM). In the early 20th century, ISTM-certified massage practitioners and remedial gymnasts began to organize to form a society that would strive for professional recognition and protection in Canada. The fledgling physiotherapy profession sought and received assistance from the medical profession. In return, physiotherapists accepted medical supervision. The two world wars provided impetus to the development of physiotherapy, in achieving both professional status and expansion of demand for physiotherapy services. By the 1960s, demand had produced nine new university physiotherapy programs in Canada. More physiotherapists were graduating in Canada than were arriving from other countries. Physiotherapists tolerated medical dominance during the 1950s and '60s, but grew increasingly restive while they developed their own professional competence, body of knowledge and political awareness. By the 1980s, most physiotherapists sought a collegial relationship with medicine. They no longer felt the need for medical sponsorship. The profession was involved in active struggle to achieve legislative recognition of its standards, modes of practice and claim for authority as a self-regulating profession, and in resistance to dominance by any other profession. This article places the development of physiotherapy in the historical, class, and gender context of Canadian society.

Canada↗
PubMed2000

Will German patients accept their family physician as a gatekeeper?

OBJECTIVE: Looking to the experience in the United States with managed care and the possible introduction of gatekeeping in the near future in Germany, we performed a population-based survey to examine preferences for future gatekeeping arrangements. DESIGN: Cross-sectional telephone survey. SETTING: Four health districts in Thuringia (formerly East Germany) and Lower Saxony (formerly West Germany). PARTICIPANTS: Out of a random sample of 644 adults in the 4 districts, 415 persons (64.4%) took part in the survey. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Using multiple logistic regression, we analyzed associations between preferences for gatekeeping arrangements and patient satisfaction, insurance status, and sociodemographic characteristics. Seventy-four percent of respondents valued first-contact care, especially older people (odds ratio [OR], 4.3; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 2.0 to 9.3), people who were very satisfied with the relationship with their family physician (OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.6 to 4.8) and members of sickness funds in contrast to privately insured persons (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.2 to 5.2). The family physician's influence in coordinating the use of specialist services was appreciated by 86%, more often by members of sickness funds (OR, 5.9; 95% CI, 2.4 to 14. 3), people who were very satisfied with their doctor's professional competence (OR, 3.2; 95% CI, 1.6 to 6.3) and older persons (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.1 to 7.7). CONCLUSIONS: A vast majority of the German population would accept their family physician as entry point and as coordinator of all other health services. Since patient satisfaction, among other reasons, strongly influenced preferences for gatekeeper arrangements, family physicians themselves may be able to promote primary care health services.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Children experiencing pain and coping with it in situations of invasive diagnostics, therapies and care].

The opening of pediatric units for co-admission of parents brought a clear change in the professional understanding of pediatric nursing. In all areas of work this creates new challenges for pediatric nurses. Besides professional competences of caring for ill children they now require competences in guiding and counselling parents, offering them effective strategies for coping with stressful experiences in connection with the illness of their child. Quite often painful diagnostic or therapeutic interventions accompanying illness are extremely stress-laden, especially for young children. The pediatric nurse must transform these situations in a way that facilitates prevention and coping mechanisms for parents as well as for the affected children to support them in their coping strategies. This article legitimises the task of the pediatric nurse to counsel and guide parents of children in invasive painful situations in the light of Orem's Self-Care-Framework and from the perspective of developmental psychology. Cognitive as well as emotional coping mechanisms of children are presented, from which ways to counsel parents and to care for children in painful situations may be deduced. In a care situation trusting relationships between nurse, child and parents are essential. How children build trust should be a topic of research and discussion as well as the specific characteristics of a professional relationship between nurse and patient.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Generic drugs: good or bad? Physician's knowledge of generic drugs and prescribing habits].

In this article we analyze the responses of 1220 Spanish physicians who participated in a survery about generic drugs. A previously validated questionnaire was sent to physicians through the Spanish Medical Councils of the different provinces. Four items were analyzed: what doctors know about generic drugs (knowledge); physicians' prescribing habits concerning these drugs (attitude and professional competence); how prescription of generic drugs effects pharmaceutical costs amd, finally, what doctors believe a generic drug should be. The influence of physician-related variables (age, type of contract, specialty, workload, etc.) on prescribing of generic drugs was also analyzed. In view of the results, we believe that to rationalize expenditure through and appropriate policy on generic drugs Spanish health authorities should offer more and better training and information (clear and independent) about what generic drugs are.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Opening up the options: making the inflexible into a flexible framework.

The post-registration framework for registered nurses and midwives was set up to provide flexible continuing education programmes for registered nurses. For those students who already have the basic professional qualification specific to their area of practice, professional development programmes are intended as a vehicle for improving their own personal professional competence. However, for those individuals who wish to gain further qualification or to change from one practice context to another, it is argued that the framework does not adequately address their needs. At present, pre-registration diplomates emerge from the Project 2000 programme with a qualification which enables them to work in one specific area of practice only. This early specialization is not in line with current and projected USA and European thinking (Castledine 1995) and may lead to a reduction in the broad base of nursing knowledge. It is further argued that pre-registration programmes should provide a generic base of nursing theory and practice, whereas specialist knowledge and practice should be the main thrust of post-registration work. The authors argue that initial development of nurses in specialist areas at pre-registration level restricts their ability to respond to rapidly changing health care needs later in their careers. The post-registration framework should be a flexible vehicle by which individuals can gain expanded knowledge in a particular field of practice or can change professional direction if they wish. Thus, nurses would have the freedom to develop in a way that is most appropriate to their changing individual needs.

Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate↗
PubMed2006

Developing effective written communication and advocacy skills in entry-level health educators through writing-intensive program planning methods courses.

Written communication is a requisite skill for practitioners in the field of health education. Advocacy skills are now considered to be both a professional competency and an ethical responsibility. Given that many advocacy strategies involve written communication, it makes sense that the skills of writing and advocacy be developed concomitantly and within a writing-intensive class. The purposes of this article are twofold: (a) to describe the role of writing-intensive program planning methods courses in the development of written communication and advocacy skills in entry-level health educators and (b) to suggest strategies for planning, implementing, and assessing writing-intensive assignments and instructional activities designed to develop students' written communication and advocacy skills. Multiple examples of writing assignments are presented that can be used in helping students in developing their critical thinking, writing, and advocacy skills.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1996

Alleviating anxiety in nursing patients' significant others.

This paper describes an investigation of factors that help to alleviate anxiety in nursing patients' significant others, based on the assumption that anxiety flows from the feeling of insecurity and accordingly that anxiety can be alleviated by strengthening the sense of security. The focus of the study is on factors that affect experiences of security in the significant others of critically ill patients. In addition, the paper addresses the questions of how the age and gender of the significant other, the duration of intensive care, and the patient's named nurse influence the assessments by significant others of the quality of the nursing care provided. Fourteen significant others of critically ill patients took part. The data were collected in focused interviews. For qualitative analysis the raw data were analysed into four main themes: nurse characteristics, interaction, professional competence, and confidence in nursing care and in the nursing staff. In the quantitative analysis the concern was with how these themes and their subcategories were emphasised by participants and on different variables. Frequencies were used. According to the results, significant others considered it important to have close contact with the nursing staff. Each patient's named nurse had an important role to play in improving the quality of nursing care. In general, respondents appeared to consider that factors which had to do with attitudes, which could be subjectively evaluated and which were not objectively discernible, were the most important determinants of safe, quality nursing care.

Adult↗