Developing core competencies for clinical nurse educators: An e-Delphi-study

Background: Clinical nurse educator plays an indispensable role in promoting the development of nursing staff and nursing students in clinical settings. Too few core competencies for clinical nurse educators applicable to a given clinical setting are developed and validated by the research process. A better understanding of the core competencies for clinical nurse educators can inform the selection, training, and evaluation of clinical nurse educator. Objective: To establish the core competencies for clinical nurse educators in China. Design: Focus group interviews and the e-Delphi method were used. Settings: This study was conducted in five teaching hospitals in China. Participants: Participants (n = 61), including nurse managers, clinical nurse educators, staff nurses, and nursing students were recruited for focus group interviews and 25 experts were selected for the e-Delphi study. Methods: Based on a literature review and the focus group interviews, a preliminary set of clinical nurse educator's core competencies was formed. Subsequently, experts provided supportive and modification advice on core competencies in the two rounds e-Delphi study. The consensus percentage and the weight of each first-level, second-level index and its connotations were calculated. Results: Two rounds of online Delphi expert consultation were completed by 25 experts, and the consensus was achieved on four first-level indices, 16 second-level specific competencies, and its 57 connotations. The first-level index included clinical teaching competency, clinical nursing skills, management and leadership competency, and innovation and research competency. Moreover, the consensus level of all indices was >75%, the coefficient of variation (CV) was less than 0.25 (p < 0.05) and the Kendall coefficient (W) was 0.169-0.503 (P < 0.01). Conclusions: The explicit statements of expected competencies for clinical nurse educators can be applied to diverse clinical scenarios and provide a reference for selection, training, and evaluation of the clinical nurse educators.