Constructing critical care nursing expertise: An integrative literature review

The lack of internationally uniform educational regulations and constantly intensifying competence requirements creates the need to enhance the understanding of the educational practices supporting the construction of critical care nursing competence.

The aim of this review was to synthesise evidence on critical care nursing competency requirements and to learn more about the educational practices supporting the development of critical care nursing competence.

Integrative review.

A systematic literature search was conducted in CINAHL, Scopus, and PubMed, focusing on peer reviewed studies of critical care nursing competence requirements. The review was guided by Cooper's method. Data evaluation was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools. Thematic analysis was used in the analysis and the PRISMA checklist for systematic reviews in reporting.

15 studies of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods/Delphi research were included in the review. The development of competence in critical care nursing can be enhanced by supporting nurses' personal performance and by supporting the active, continuous and progressive achievement of core critical care nursing competencies.

To develop the best practices to meet the nursing care requirements of critically ill hospital patients, it is important to consider the personal characteristics of nurses' and support their professional self-confidence. Practices entailing the acquisition of extensive clinical experience, the completion of postgraduate critical care nursing education and the independent study of critical care nursing content are recommended. The development of expertise seems consistent when core competencies are achieved progressively upon the critical care nursing competence base to specialised and advanced competency levels.