Competencies of the public health nurse in a frontier region: a scoping review

Objective: To identify the scientific evidence on the specific competencies for the professional practice of public health nurses in a frontier region. Methods: Scoping Review, according to Joanna Briggs Institute, through the guiding question: "What is the knowledge production about the competencies necessary for the professional practice of public health nurses in a frontier region?" Searches were conducted in five databases, with original English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French studies published or made available by June 2020, using the descriptors: nurse, competence, and border areas. Results: Among the 941 studies found, 58 were selected for full-text reading, resulting in a final sample of eight studies from different countries: Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, and the United States of America. From the analysis of each study, five specific competencies of the public health nurse who works in frontier regions emerged, being Competence for: 1) Cultural approach; 2) Competence for integral and collective nursing care in a frontier region; 3) Policy for assistance in frontier communities; 4) Linguistic -communicative; 5) Transnational care. Conclusion: The selected studies pointed out cultural and social competencies despite diversified frontier environments. The nurse's role in a frontier region changes as modern society configures itself and reorients itself toward new identity possibilities. Such changes reflect the need for effective health care that promotes proximity to cultural differences.