The gerontological nurse specialist’s core competencies in China: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: To describe the core competencies of gerontological nurse specialists and investigate the factors that contribute to the development of core competencies. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2015–March 2016. Methods: The descriptive study of gerontological nurse specialists’ core competencies used a self-assessment instrument with three first-level domains (attitude, skill and knowledge) and 9 s-level dimensions. A total of 225 gerontological nurse specialists from ten provinces in China were selected by a convenience sampling method. Results: The average core competency score of the gerontological nurse specialists was 3.78, in the middle level(3.30–4.17/5.00). Core competency was associated with gerontological nurse specialists’ age (p =.005), professional title (p =.017), hospital level (p =.006) and passion for geriatric nursing (p =.000). The average scores of attitude, skill and knowledge were 4.45, 4.02 and 4.18, respectively. All first-level domains were related to age (p ≤.021) and passion for geriatric nursing (p ≤.008); knowledge and skill were associated with professional title (p ≤.045) and attitude and skill were associated with hospital level (p ≤.020).