NURSING COMPETENCIES

Question

Describe nursing competencies. Which competencies relate to information technology? Describe any other competencies that you think should be included in the QSEN website.  Need one reference less than 5 years.

 Answer

NURSING COMPETENCIES

Competency refers to the knowledge; proficiency and attitude that is build and developed in the nursing program for ethical practice in the profession. There are a number of nursing competencies as described by the Institute of Medicine. The key competency include: teamwork, quality improvement, patient-centered care, informatics, and safety. The nurses should be competent to be able to offer knowledge on a range of health sciences practices such as nutrition, epidemiology, immunology, microbiology, genetics, pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, psychopathology, and pharmacology.

Informatics is the competency that relate to information technology. Informatics is a field that incorporates computer science, nursing science and information science to supervise and communicate knowledge of data and practice of nursing. According to Jose, M. M., & Dufrene, C. (2014), informatics is a new competence that is quickly gaining relevance in the nursing profession. It is significant for nurses to have informatics competencies. The knowledge is useful to operate an electronic health record and other technologies that relates to health. There are software applications that assist nurses to make decisions and classify decisions in their day-to-day job of providing direct care to the patients. For sustainability, the nurses should also be interested in changing technology and how it affects the health profession.

Another competency that I think should be added in the QSEN website is integrity. The nursing profession should have people with high level of honesty and integrity. They shouldn’t exaggerate on prices of medicines that have been prescribed to patients by doctors. They should be truthful on their operation. They should ensure that trust gained from the patients is well safeguarded. The material facts about their health shouldn’t be disclosed to other parties without the patient consent (Jose, M. M., & Dufrene, C. 2014).

References

Jose, M. M., & Dufrene, C. (2014). Educational competencies and technologies for disaster preparedness in undergraduate nursing education: An integrative review. Nurse education today34(4), 543-551.

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