Institute of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
J Clin Nurs. 2013 May;22(9-10):1400-10. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04239.x. Epub 2012 Sep 7.
To explore the relationship between the levels of nurses' competence and the length of their clinical experience, in order to provide a tentative model of the continuing competence of nurses.
The professional development of employees has attracted great interest. This interest has led to the development of various models that illustrate how employees develop their competence throughout their careers. However, little is known of how nurses maintain and develop their competence throughout their career pathways.
A cross-sectional design was used.
Using a survey method, five dimensions of self-assessed nursing competence and the length of the nurses' clinical practice were measured (n = 325). Each dimension of competence was plotted against the length of their clinical experience using locally weighted scatterplot smoothing. Then, the shapes of the plots were analysed by fractional polynomial regression analysis.
Overall, the relationships between the levels of nursing competence and the length of clinical experience were illustrated by curves with a rapid increase in competence levels at the early stage of the nursing career and a slower increase later. These curves were modelled by either a logarithmic, square-root function or its reciprocal. The results supported the learning curve model.
The competence development of nurses may be characterised by two distinctive periods: a rapid growth period followed by stable periods. However, the modality of the growth may be different depending on which dimension of nursing competence is in focus.
The level of nursing competence directly affects the quality of care provided to patients. The findings of the study enable healthcare organisations to take proactive approaches to enhance nurses' competence by identifying when and how to assist nurses.
探索护士能力水平与临床经验长短之间的关系，以期为护士持续能力提供一个初步模型。
员工的专业发展引起了极大的兴趣。这种兴趣导致了各种模型的发展，这些模型说明了员工在整个职业生涯中如何发展他们的能力。然而，对于护士如何在整个职业道路上保持和发展他们的能力，知之甚少。
采用横断面设计。
使用调查方法，测量了自我评估护理能力的五个维度和护士临床实践的时长（n = 325）。使用局部加权散点平滑法，将每个能力维度与他们的临床经验长度进行对比。然后，通过分数多项式回归分析来分析这些图的形状。
总体而言，护理能力水平与临床经验长短之间的关系用曲线表示，在护理职业生涯的早期，能力水平迅速提高，后期提高速度较慢。这些曲线可以用对数、平方根函数或其倒数来建模。结果支持学习曲线模型。
护士的能力发展可能具有两个不同的阶段：快速增长期和稳定期。然而，取决于关注的护理能力维度，增长的模式可能不同。
护理能力水平直接影响为患者提供的护理质量。该研究的结果使医疗机构能够通过确定何时以及如何帮助护士，采取主动措施来提高护士的能力。
