10 Core Competencies
I think that the ten core competencies where selected because they encompass the attributes a nurse needs to include in everyday practice, not only for our profession but for the care of our patients.
Informatics and technology is a competency I believe will be important to the future of nursing. Quality patient care is having the correct patient information available in one place. Electronic medical records (EMR) make it possible to access information from one health system to another. Flowsheets within the EMR help document patient assessments, fall precautions, vitals and patient education. But when checking off tasks on the computer it is imperative to have patient interaction. Taryn L. Hill stated, “Nursing as a profession has an obligation to interact with clients in the moment” (Caring and Technology by Taryn L. Hill, PhD, MSN, RN, Para 2).
The second core competency that is important to me is Quality Improvement. A responsibility of my position as an application analyst is to build order sets within the electronic medical record. I belong to a multi-disciplinary team of pharmacists, nurses, administrators and providers that are continually analyzing medication order sets for improvement in patient outcomes. Our committee uses a Quality improvement model to make enhancements to our order sets using The Plan-Do-Check-Act. “The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is shorthand for testing a change –by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned” (The Massachusetts Nursing Core Competencies: pg. 20, para 5). The committee discusses a change that needs to be made to the order set, the change is implemented, and data collect on the change, if the outcome of the change is positive no action is required. However, if the change is not what was expected, it is taken back to the committee.
Informatics and technology is a competency I believe will be important to the future of nursing. Quality patient care is having the correct patient information available in one place. Electronic medical records (EMR) make it possible to access information from one health system to another. Flowsheets within the EMR help document patient assessments, fall precautions, vitals and patient education. But when checking off tasks on the computer it is imperative to have patient interaction. Taryn L. Hill stated, “Nursing as a profession has an obligation to interact with clients in the moment” (Caring and Technology by Taryn L. Hill, PhD, MSN, RN, Para 2).
The second core competency that is important to me is Quality Improvement. A responsibility of my position as an application analyst is to build order sets within the electronic medical record. I belong to a multi-disciplinary team of pharmacists, nurses, administrators and providers that are continually analyzing medication order sets for improvement in patient outcomes. Our committee uses a Quality improvement model to make enhancements to our order sets using The Plan-Do-Check-Act. “The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is shorthand for testing a change –by planning it, trying it, observing the results, and acting on what is learned” (The Massachusetts Nursing Core Competencies: pg. 20, para 5). The committee discusses a change that needs to be made to the order set, the change is implemented, and data collect on the change, if the outcome of the change is positive no action is required. However, if the change is not what was expected, it is taken back to the committee.