Care competencies of nurses at clinical departments: A cross-sectional study in Bac Giang provincial general hospital of Vietnam

Objectives: Nurses play a crucial role in healthcare delivery; however, in Vietnam, the number of nurses and their practical care competencies do not meet the require-ments of healthcare quality. This study aimed to describe the basic care competencies of clinical nurses and identify some associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among all nurses working in the clinical departments of Bac Giang Provincial General Hospital. Data were collected in 2023 using a 60-item self-reported tool based on the 15 criteria of the Basic Com-petency Standards for Vietnamese Nurses, employing a 5-point Likert scale. The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including the Mann-Whitney U test and linear regression. Results: There were 344 clinical nurses who participated in this study. The mean score for nurses' care practice competence was 4.06 ± 0.30 out of 5, with 74.1% of nurses feeling confident in their competencies. The multiple linear regression model found that female nurses (coef. = 0.11, p = 0.022), nurses in surgical departments (coef. = 0.11, p = 0.002), and nurses who received training in the past two years (co-ef. = 0.20, p = 0.003) were associated with higher competence. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the necessity of continuous training to en-hance nurses’ care competencies. It is recommended that hospital management foster and prioritize training programs for clinical nurses to improve the quality of healthcare services. Keywords: Nursing competency, basic nursing care practice, nursing training, clini-cal departments, hospital.