Competency assessment for community health nurses: a focus group expert panel discussion

BACKGROUND: General Practice setting in the Primary Health Care Services are the utmost visited by the public. It is important that the nurses’ competencies in this area be assessed to ensure provision of safe and quality services. AIM/OBJECTIVE: To explore perceptions and experiences of competencies assessment tool for community health nurses working at the General Practice setting in the Primary Health Care Services. METHODS: An exploratory qualitative study utilizing focus group discussions were conducted on purposive sample of 12 officers with expertise in competency assessment and community health nursing from higher nursing education institutions, the Nursing Training and Development Centre, the Nursing Board and the Community Health Nursing Services in Brunei Darussalam. The existing competencies assessment tool was revised, the participants were divided into two groups of expert panel review team and two focus group discussions were held with each team. The focus group discussions encompassed components and methods of assessment; methods of grading; and overall organization and structure of the revised competency assessment tool. FINDINGS: Four themes emerged: 1) International equivalent core competencies components; 2) Multi-methods approach to assessment; 3) Definitive guidelines as framework for assessment; and 4) Understanding and acceptability of the competency assessment tool. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS TO PRACTICE: The expert panel reviews provide practical input that were inculcated in the preliminary developed competencies assessment tool. Identification of eligible assessors were recommended based on standardized criteria, and socialization and training held to set direction and guidance for implementing the utilization of the competencies assessment tool. Further studies are deemed important to critically evaluate and validate the preliminary competencies assessment tool for development of a more robust assessment instrument. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-022-00898-y.