PROJECTIONS OF NURSING SERVICE ADMINISTRATORS OF ILLINOIS NURSING HOMES ABOUT DESIRED COMPETENCIES OF NEWLY LICENSED REGISTERED NURSES.
Contributors: Northern Illinois University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 144
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.; Education, Health.
Description: The purpose of this research was to obtain data regarding entry level skills that will be needed by newly licensed registered nurses for effective nursing practice in long-term care facilities in the near future. A survey, including a list of 21 nursing skills, was sent to directors of nursing associated with nursing homes that had received awards under the Illinois QUIP program in December, 1985. The responses of 59 directors of nursing were analyzed.

The following four skills were rated the highest in importance and were also rated as needing the highest priority in education: (1) "evaluation and documentation of resident condition and care"; (2) "assessment of residents, psychosocial and functional levels"; (3) "effective communication with residents, families, personnel"; and (4) "effective performance in an emergency situation.".

Based on the mean ratings, each of the 21 skills listed in the survey was rated "worthwhile" by the respondents; over 85 percent of the skills were rated "important," "high importance," or "highest importance" by the respondents. The lowest mean rating was given for "identification of researchable questions." The skill ranked as needing the lowest priority in education was "taking of a health history on residents." The researcher concluded that the projections of the respondents were not disparate from the skills identified in the literature as being important in the field of long-term care.

The following recommendations were made by the researcher: (1) a survey of recent registered nurse graduates who are employed in nursing homes should be conducted to investigate factors in the nursing education curriculum that facilitate the development of competence in skills important to quality care in nursing home settings; and (2) institutions involved in continuing education need to provide programs in advanced clinical assessment, nursing diagnosis and research for less recent nurse graduates in nursing homes. On the basis of the literature review the following recommendations were made: (1) schools of nursing need to consider the placement of a preceptorship clinical experience with emphasis on leadership for nursing students in quality nursing homes, and (2) continued effort needs to be made by nurses to find ways to measure the quality of care in nursing homes.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: B, page: 3113.

Thesis (ED.D.)--NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0162.