Geriatrics Gerontology & Palliative Nursing

Background: The only widely used gerontological nursing competencies were published in the United States. A Nursing in Aged Care Collaborative (NACC) undertook a study to address this gap and developed Gerontological Nursing (GerNur) Competencies for use across Australia.

 

Aim: This paper presents the findings from an e-Delphi study to develop GerNur Competencies.

 

Methods: Survey Monkey was used to circulate a draft set of gerontological nursing competencies and seek agreement on priority areas, wording and levels of practice. Using snowball sampling, 409 participants were recruited to the first round: 57% clinicians, 30% managers and 13% academics from 10 countries. At round 5, 139 participants remained.

 

Findings: With 60% agreement set as the minimum acceptable level, 11 core competencies with 36 domains of practice and two levels of practice were generated:

1. Living Well for Older People across Communities and Groups

2. Maximising Health Outcomes

3. Communicating Effectively

4. Facilitating Transitions in Care

5. Facilitating Choices

6. Partnering with Family Carers

7. Promoting Psychological Well-being and Mental Health

8. Providing Evidence-Based Dementia Care

9. Providing Optimal Pain Management

10. Providing Palliative Care

11. Enabling Access to Technology

 

Conclusion: This is the first set of gerontological nursing competencies for use in Australia developed from an inductive consultation activity with a range of stakeholders. The GerNur Competencies will be piloted across the NACC organisations. The GerNurs Competencies and accompanying guidelines will be available on a freely accessible website for use by individuals for their professional development and organisations to support their implementation of strategic plans.