Synthesizing core nursing skills to support behavioural-based interviews for nurses in the UAE: A nominal group study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Workforce Development
• Clinical Skills Assessment

Background:

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) faces challenges in nursing due to reliance on expatriate nurses with diverse backgrounds.
• A global nursing shortage necessitates innovative recruitment strategies for the UAE to maintain healthcare quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a foundational set of core clinical and performance skills for nurses in the UAE.
• To guide the development of structured interview questions for effective nurse recruitment.

Main Methods:

• A virtual nominal group technique (NGT) involving 30 frontline nurses was employed.
• Three cycles of NGT were conducted to achieve consensus on essential skills across pediatric, outpatient, and telemetry/transitional care specialties.

Main Results:

• Ten core performance skills and ten core clinical skills were identified for each specialty.
• Key performance skills include communication and critical thinking.
• Essential clinical skills encompass medication administration, cardiac monitoring troubleshooting, and arrhythmia recognition.

Conclusions:

• The identified skills provide a basis for developing specialty-specific interview questions to enhance the selection process.
• These core skills also support nurse orientation, appraisal, and professional development initiatives.