title: Comparison of competence assessments made by nurse managers and practising nurses.
abstract: This study compares nurse and manager assessments of nurse competence in a university hospital setting. Although managers carry out annual reviews, few studies have examined the agreement between the competence assessments made by practising nurses and their managers. Using a pretested 73-item questionnaire, consisting of seven competence categories, we compared self-assessments and manager assessments of the level of nurse competence on a Visual Analogue Scale of 0-100 and the frequency of using competencies by using statistical analyses. Managers assessed the overall level of competence (70.8 +/- 19.3 vs. 63.9 +/- 13.7) (mean +/- SD) and the level of competence in five competence categories significantly higher than the nurses themselves. A high degree of agreement was found between the assessments for the frequency of using competencies. These results can be used to encourage nurses and to improve the quality of care in different hospital work environments.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Director, Corporate Headquarters, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa Professor, Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Finland. rita.meretoja@hus.fi
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meretoja
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leino-Kilpi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal / Q000592:standards; D005387:Finland; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards*; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires