Nursing Competencies: New Advances in Nursing Care

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Nursing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 4352

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship, OPI, 00136 Rome, Italy
Interests: nursing competence; professional competencies; clinical competencies; leadership; healthcare

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Guest Editor
1. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98100 Messina, Italy
2. Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship, OPI, 00131 Rome, Italy
Interests: ethics; transcultural competencies; global health
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, demands have been voiced calling for profound changes to the structure of healthcare systems to meet future challenges. Nurses are at the heart of such systems; without them, no such restructuring would be possible. To prepare nurses to take on this task, healthcare professionals from across the sector need to think about the changes that will occur in healthcare strategies and how they will affect the needs of patients. All of this change will involve a new system of nursing education, based on the new competencies nurses will need to acquire over the coming decade in order to face the interconnected challenges of our global society.

This will unquestionably involve a reform of nursing education. Nurses have many vital competencies that can help people improve adherence to the rules of healthcare systems, meet the population's future needs, and further advance epidemiological circumstances.

In this Special Issue, researchers, teachers, and academics are invited to present their work on nursing competencies based on new advances in nursing. Articles, reviews, and concept papers might focus on the evolution of nursing skills or other related concepts based on contemporary nursing.

Possible research topics include but are not limited to:

  • Meta-analyses and systematic reviews of nursing assessment instruments currently in use;
  • Research that validates the currently used evaluation instruments;
  • Studies that quantify the psychometric properties of assessment instruments;
  • Research comparing several assessment instruments used to measure the same domain;
  • Cross-sectional research for the purpose of culturally adapting assessment instruments in certain nations.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ippolito Notarnicola
Dr. Alessandro Stievano
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • clinical competence
  • professional competence
  • nursing
  • healthcare
  • healthcare education

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 630 KiB  
Article
Toward the Definition of a Repertoire of Technical Professional Specialist Competencies for Operating Room Nurses: An Ethnographic Study
by Francesca Reato, Alessia Bresil, Chiara D’Angelo, Mara Gorli, Dhurata Ivziku, Marzia Lommi and Giulio Carcano
Healthcare 2024, 12(17), 1774; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12171774 - 5 Sep 2024
Viewed by 689
Abstract
Registered nurses in the operating room require specialized competencies that surpass basic educational training. Existing national and international documents attempt to outline these competencies but often lack comprehensive details. To address this, a repertoire of technical and professional competencies for operating room nurses, [...] Read more.
Registered nurses in the operating room require specialized competencies that surpass basic educational training. Existing national and international documents attempt to outline these competencies but often lack comprehensive details. To address this, a repertoire of technical and professional competencies for operating room nurses, aligned with European and National Qualifications Frameworks, is proposed. Aim: Develop a repertoire of technical and professional competencies for perioperative and perianesthesiological specialist nursing roles. Methods: An at-home ethnography design was employed, utilizing participant observation, interviews to the double, and focus groups. Convenience sampling included 46 participants from a university and a public hospital in northern Italy. Data were collected from September 2021 to June 2023 and analyzed using inductive content analysis and data triangulation. Results: Identified 17 specialized technical professional competencies for perioperative and perianesthesiological nursing, divided into 6 areas of activity. These competencies encompass 19 learning outcomes, 152 tasks, 222 knowledge elements, and 218 skills. Conclusions: This competency repertoire aids in the public recognition of qualifications and serves as a valuable tool for identifying, validating, and certifying competencies. Future research should focus on exploring the competencies of central sterilization nurses and transversal competencies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nursing Competencies: New Advances in Nursing Care)
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14 pages, 256 KiB  
Article
Empowering Nurse Health Education: Linguistic and Cultural Validation of the Nurse Health Education Competence Instrument (NHECI) in the Italian Context
by Ippolito Notarnicola, Blerina Duka, Marzia Lommi, Emanuela Prendi, Elena Cristofori, Tiziana Mele, Dhurata Ivziku, Gennaro Rocco and Alessandro Stievano
Healthcare 2024, 12(14), 1445; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12141445 - 19 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Background: Nurses worldwide are acknowledged for their role in health education across various settings. However, doubts often arise regarding their competence in this domain. This study aims to validate the Nurse Health Education Competence Instrument (NHECI) linguistically and culturally in the Italian context. [...] Read more.
Background: Nurses worldwide are acknowledged for their role in health education across various settings. However, doubts often arise regarding their competence in this domain. This study aims to validate the Nurse Health Education Competence Instrument (NHECI) linguistically and culturally in the Italian context. Methods: Following Beaton et al.’s (2000) guidelines, we conducted cross-cultural adaptation to develop the Italian version of the questionnaire. Results: The Italian version demonstrates a good internal consistency and stability, making it suitable for assessing nursing students during clinical internships and practicing nurses. The availability of Italian tools promotes healthcare research, ensuring patient-centric care. Conclusions: The validity and reliability of the Italian version of the instrument for assessing health education competencies, essential for self-assessment among health education nurses, are established. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nursing Competencies: New Advances in Nursing Care)

Review

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13 pages, 1476 KiB  
Review
Models Used by Nurse Case Managers in Different Autonomous Communities in Spain: A Scoping Review
by Paula Villarreal-Granda, Amada Recio-Platero, Yara Martín-Bayo, Carlos Durantez-Fernández, Rosa M. Cárdaba-García, Lucía Pérez-Pérez, Miguel Madrigal, Alba Muñoz-del Caz, Elena Olea, Esther Bahillo Ruiz, Lourdes Jiménez-Navascués and Veronica Velasco-Gonzalez
Healthcare 2024, 12(7), 749; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12070749 - 29 Mar 2024
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Abstract
(1) Background: The role of the nurse case manager is unknown to the population. The main objective is to analyze the existing differences within the national territory in order to make known the situation in Spain with a view to the recognition of [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The role of the nurse case manager is unknown to the population. The main objective is to analyze the existing differences within the national territory in order to make known the situation in Spain with a view to the recognition of its functions and the creation of the professional profile in an equal manner. (2) Methods: A scoping review was conducted in order to achieve the main aim. Selected articles were subjected to a critical reading, and the levels of evidence and grades of recommendation of the Joanna Briggs Institute were verified. The search field was limited to the last ten years. (3) Results: Case management models are heterogeneous in different autonomous communities in Spain. Case nurse management is qualified for high-complexity patients, follow up on chronic patients, and coordinate health assistance. (4) Conclusions: It concludes that nursing’s role is crucial in the field of case management, being required in the follow-up of chronic patients of high complexity. Despite the proven health benefits, efficacy, and efficiency of case management, there are many heterogeneous models that coexist in Spain. This involves a restriction in the development of a nursing career because of the lack of a definition of its functions and competences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nursing Competencies: New Advances in Nursing Care)
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