Refinement of the competencies for a programme in child nursing science presented at a nursing education institution in the Gauteng Province

Abstract

PURPOSE Explore the competencies required by the child nurse practitioners in the child nursing practice in order to refine the current competencies in a programme for Child Nursing Science presented at a Nursing Education Institution in Gauteng. DESIGN AND METHOD A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive, exploratory and applied research design was used. A structured self reported questionnaire was constructed based on the competencies derived from the current programme for Child Nursing Science used at the Nursing Education Institution, the Specialist Paediatric and Child Health Nurse by the Australian Confederation of Paediatric and Child Health Nurses and the World Health Organization Children’s Nursing Curriculum. The structured self reported questionnaire was distributed to 110 child nurse practitioners working in child nursing practices in Gauteng and a total of 82 responded. FINDINGS All competencies were regarded as important, except for competencies related to research, family-centred child care, complementary and traditional child care practices, evidence-based practice, mentoring and play activities. CONCLUSION Findings were used to refine the current competencies in a programme for Child Nursing Science