Integration of Primary Care Nurse Competencies and Impact on Professional Identity and Readiness to Train

Integration of Primary Care Nurse Competencies and their Impact on Nursing Professional Identity and Readiness to Train
Purpose: To integrate evidence-based competencies and evaluate impact on professional identity and confidence in training new nurses
Background: Primary care is a unique practice setting and structured orientation is recommended for new hires. Many practices, however, rely on on-the-job training. Ambiguity exists in the nursing role. Competencies help articulate the nurse role and structure training.
Methods: This PDSA guided project included survey design and semi-structures interview components. Two surveys were sent to nine nurses to measure professional identity and confidence in training.
Results: Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to evaluate survey results. This data helped inform the development of the interview questions. The PINS-BVS demonstrated that nurses rate themselves high in Caring and Empathy but lower in Confidence and Taking Care of Oneself. The Readiness survey demonstrated nurses’ confidence in training and skills. Six themes emerged from the interview: Practicing to Full Scope, Reimbursement, Lightening the Load, Nursing Skills, Participation in Professional Organizations, and Opportunities.
Conclusion: Measures for professional identity in nursing can be valuable to assess current nursing perceptions of self and colleagues. Leaders perceived evidence-based competencies as valuable in the primary care setting as they are considered required and can help define the scope of the nurse in the clinic. Results may benefit organizations seeking to adopt primary care competencies to support nursing practice and align these efforts with clinical goals.