Nurses' perspectives on technical skill requirements in primary and tertiary healthcare services

To explore nurses' perspectives on technical skill requirements in primary and tertiary healthcare services and their perspectives on where students should learn these skills.

The study was conducted in Norway and had a cross-sectional, multicentre, descriptive design.

We used a questionnaire to explore registered nurses and intellectual disability nurses' perspectives on technical skill requirements and learning (N = 437).

All the skills included in the university college curricula were reported to be required, and most skills should from the respondents' perspective be learned in the university college. There were significant differences between registered nurses and intellectual disability nurses about their perspectives on skill learning, but no significant differences between respondents in the interface between hospital and municipality wards.

Results from this study indicate that nurses need extensive technical skills in both primary and tertiary health care. Findings also indicate a need to modify the university college curricula.