Endoscopy nurse as a patient care coordinator: the expanded role of the competent nurse in the gastroenterology setting.

摘要

Several methods are used to describe and evaluate competence profiles of registered nurses. A clinical ladder program based on P. Benner's (1984; P. Benner et al., 1996) competency framework has been used for 20 years in a Finnish university hospital; to ensure the nurses' strategic competencies and capability profiles, the Nurse Competence Scale (NCS) was developed for the self-assessment and the superiors' review purposes (R. Meretoja, H. Isoaho, & H. Leino-Kilpi, 2004; R. Meretoja, H. Leino-Kilpi, & A. M. Kaira, 2004). In the gastroenterological endoscopy unit, competent nurses' work role has been expanded to the proficient level. These nurses are working as patient care coordinators in multiprofessional groups. This expanded work role requires mastery of nursing care for the gastroenterological patients and also familiarity of the endoscopy processes and the clinical pathways. These endoscopy nurse coordinators' most important work role is the effective management of situations, and they are also remarkable resources as preceptors and mentors to less experienced nurses and nursing students. This article describes endoscopy nurse coordinators' expanded work role and competence profile in the frame of the clinical ladder program.