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Identifying health education competencies for primary health care nurses in Saudi Arabia : a Delphi Consensus Study

Research Aim: The primary aim of this Saudi-based study is to identify health-education competencies (knowledge, skills & attitudes) for Primary Health Care (PHC) nurses. Although the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) has highlighted the importance of health education provided in PHC by nurses, there have been no studies into the required competencies in the Saudi context. Methods: The Delphi technique was employed with a sample of sixty PHC nurses who matched the study’s inclusion criteria and they took part in a three-round questionnaire. A consensus criterion of 60 per cent was adopted for the study. The first round asked participants’ opinions about what items should be included within health education competencies for PHC nurses by selecting (Yes, No, Uncertain). In the second round, participants were asked to rank the competencies on which there had been no initial consensus, using a five-point Likert scale. In the final round, participants selected agree or disagree for each of the remaining competencies. Following the Delphi technique an interactive workshop was undertaken with primary health care nurses and service users, to consider the next steps and practical piloting and testing of the competencies. Principal Findings: The expert Delphi panellists eventually reached consensus on 45 of the 48 competencies for PHC nurses to engage in health-education practice. These competencies were classified into three domains: knowledge (22), skills (10) and attitudes (13). Three competencies related to knowledge did not reach consensus in the three rounds. The main outcomes of the interactive workshop suggest that service users would welcome the introduction of technology within the delivery of health education, and the PHC nurses confirmed the need for more training courses in order to improve their practice of health education. Importance and Relevance: This is the first study to identify health-education competencies for PHC nurses in S.A. The results from this study represent a contribution to knowledge in a PHC setting and they can assist the MOH by being an initial step on the road to developing a national competency and curriculum framework for PHC nurses’ practice. Also, it is the first study to involve service users.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:698156
Date January 2016
CreatorsAlsaleh, N. S. M.
PublisherUniversity of Salford
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://usir.salford.ac.uk/39563/

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