Exploring Discrepancies in Perceived Nursing Competence Between Postgraduate-Year Nurses and Their Preceptors.

BACKGROUND

Postgraduate clinical training programs improve the core competence of nurses. How postgraduate-year (PGY) nurses perceive their clinical competence and their preceptors' perceptions may affect program effectiveness. This study compared the perspectives of clinical competencies of PGY nurses engaged in a residency program in Taiwan with their preceptors' perspectives.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted at a medical center in Taiwan. The Nursing Competence Questionnaire was used to obtain data from 99 pairs of PGY nurses and preceptors.

RESULTS

PGY nurses' scores were higher than their preceptors' for communication, patient education, and management competencies (p <.05). Preceptors with more years of clinical experience exhibited greater assessment discrepancies for clinical care, communication, patient education, research awareness, and overall competence (p <.05).

CONCLUSION

Preceptor development courses should be grounded in a strong pedagogical framework. An assessment tool with explicit behavioral indicators would be needed for objective evaluation from both perspectives. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(4):190-196.