The expert vascular access nurse: a pilot study of competencies

BACKGROUND AND AIM: In health care, competencies evolving with clinical and professional practice increasingly need to be defined. Identifying professional competencies in a general sense is no longer enough; it is necessary to define what competencies the professional must possess to ensure the appropriateness and effectiveness of their work. This pilot study aims to outline an initial competency framework specifically for vascular access nurses. METHODS: A transversal observational study was conducted through the administration of an ad hoc questionnaire, which after a review of the literature aimed to identify the necessary skills for nurses involved in placing vascular accesses in situ. The questionnaire thus constructed identified 108 competencies, which were subjected to content validation by expert nurses through the calculation of a critical content validity ratio (CVR). RESULTS: The research involved 14 expert professionals who reported no significant language barriers or comprehensibility difficulties. The expert review showed that the content was valid for all proposed items in a critical Content Validity Ratio (CVR .571 to 1.0). This implies that the proposed competencies can be considered a starting structure for further and necessary analyzes of the same. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study are encouraging, for a more robust assessment of identified competence, futher in-depht studies and evaluation need to be conducted (e.g. qualitative studies). (www.actabiomedica.it)