Nurse Competency

When students confer degree from nursing school, they need to get their hands on a certain level of clinical skills to stand a good possibility of succeeding in their future role as nurses. As a potential nurse, one ought to possess competence to ensure excellent service to patients needing care. It is essential that graduates encompass the expected competencies to progress into the practice world, despite of the setting. Professional competence is a fundamental requirement in the nursing practice since it has a direct control on the health and safety of all patients (Axley, 2008). In lieu of this thought, this essay will discuss the significance of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council (ANMC) competency standards, its relationship to

For example, in the UK, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) used the term competence referring to "the overarching set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to practice safely and effectively without direct supervision" (NMC, 2010, p.145). Whilst in Australia, competence is defined as "a combination of skills, knowledge, attitude, values and abilities that underpin effective and/or superior performance in a professional or occupational area" (National Competency Standards for the Registered Nurse, 2006). However, Khan and Ramachandran (2012) recommend that in medical education literature, the term competency should strictly be used for the "skill" itself while competence is the ability to perform that skill and the attribute of the performer" (p. 922). Shortage in vital core competencies might endanger the safety of patients. Hence, the National Competency Standard for the Registered Nurses by the ANMC was developed and created as an instrument to determine competence and became a way to drive forth a national approach to regulation and registration. With this standard in place, recipients of care can expect the level of service that they will receive. The competency standards has also assumed major authority within Australian nursing communities as it is utilized for planning curriculum including student assessment as well as continuing education, together with procedural

Effective communication is indispensable in the line of work of newly graduated nurse. According to Sheldon (2004, p.132) a nurse's words can do so much: It can place a patient at ease, set up a productive relationship, and carry out interventions. There is no other skill that is used more in nursing than communication. Therefore, this section of the core competencies that all health care professionals should achieve is integral in the delivery of utmost care to the patient. In communication, there will be a language barrier if one or both parties cannot effectively convey in the universal language of the world, which is English. The trained nurse might have to make use of an interpreter to assure the patient that all interventions carried out have been thoroughly explained. When explaining, the nurse should give more than enough time for the patient to be aware of and never demonstrate that the trained nurse wants to get out and do other things. It would be prudent to give an idea to the patient that the trained nurse has enough time for any question or discussion the patient might have. Moreover, the qualified nurse should always try to explain as basic as possible and try not to use jargons the patient might not understand. In addition, when asking questions the nurse should be sensitive on how open or closed questions are given, the