Follow-up and Competency Evaluation of General Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care Units Who Completed the Specialty Nursing Program in General Nursing Practice (Primary Medical Care)

Abstract

This descriptive research aimed to evaluate the competencies of nurse practitioners who completed a 4-month short-term training program in the Specialty Nursing Program in General Nursing Practice (Primary Medical Care) from Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Nakhon Ratchasima. The sample group consisted of 128 graduates who completed the training and work at Sub-district Health Promoting Hospitals, from cohorts 11 to 14. The research instrument used was a competency assessment form for specialized nurses in General Nursing Practice (Primary Medical Care), which was a 4-level rating scale comprising 8 competencies with 50 items. The instrument was validated for content validity by 3 experts, with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) of .67-1.0 and a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .73. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The research results found that the trainees had competency in 8 areas, ranked as follows: Competency 3: Professional Characteristics (M = 3.72, SD = 0.45), Competency 1: Ethics, Professional Code of Conduct, and Law (M = 3.70, SD = 0.45), Competency 6: Communication and Relationships (M = 3.67, SD = 0.52), Competency 8: Social Competency (M = 3.64, SD = 0.49), Competency 4: Leadership, Management, and Quality Development (M = 3.66, SD = 0.53), and Competency 7: Technology and Information (M = 3.54, SD = 0.55). Competency 5: Academic and Research (M = 3.49, SD = 0.60) and Competency 2: Nursing Practice (M = 3.48, SD = 0.60). The improvement of the training curriculum should therefore focus on enhancing nursing practice competencies and academic and research skills. There should be periodic follow-up and assessment of the competencies of graduates to continuously develop the quality of nursing care. Additionally, further qualitative studies should be conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the factors affecting competency levels in each area.