Specific Managerial Nursing Competences in the Hospital Context

Abstract

Introduction: The term competence can be defined as the possession of sufficient intellectual, physical and behavioral qualifications (knowledge, skills and attitudes) to perform a task or play a role adequately.

Objective: To define specific managerial nursing competences in the Cuban hospital context.

Methods: A qualitative and descriptive developmental research was conducted at Instituto de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular (Havana, Cuba), during the years 2019-2023. Eleven key informants, 17 judges and 37 nursing professionals, hospital directors and managers, participated in the study. Documentary review, key informants’ criteria, the focus group, the survey and the Delphi method were used. Content analysis, together with triangulation of sources and data, were carried out to obtain results that gave meaning to the object of study.

Results: Fifteen managerial competences were defined: 9 from the administrative dimension, 2 clinical ones, 3 related to teaching and 1 related to research, all of which are considered necessary for an adequate performance in nursing administrative activities. In the proposal, the highest percentage of competences are observed to be found in the administrative dimension.

Conclusions: Specific managerial nursing competences were defined for managers working in the hospital context; this participatory process will allow an improvement in the management of nursing services provided in health institutions.