A Comparison of Nurses' Clinical Competences in Two Hospitals Affiliated to Shiraz and Boushehr Universities of Medical Sciences: A Self-Assessment

Introduction: Evaluating nurses' clinical competencies is of special importance in managing care process and determining their educational needs. The objective of this study was to compare the clinical competen-cies and clinical skills application by nurses in two hospitals affiliated to Boushehr and Shiraz Medical Universities. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the clinical competencies of all 266 nurses employed in two main hospitals of Boushehr and Shiraz medical universities and volunteered for participation in the study were compared. A questionnaire containing 73 nursing skills in seven domains of clinical competencies was used to investigate the level of nurses' clinical competencies through Visual Analogue Scale (0 to 100) and their clinical skills application via a 4 degree Lickert Scale. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using descrip-tive statistics, independent t-test, and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Results: Having a mean score of 87.03±10.03, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences' nurses enjoyed higher level of clinical competencies compared to the mean score of 71.07±13.66 achieved by those in the hospital affiliated to Boushehr University of Medical Sciences. More over, 70 percent of clinical skills are recurrently exploited by nurses employed in Boushehr while this rate is more than 83 percent in the hospital affiliated to Shiraz Medical University. Conclusion: The level of clinical competencies and the extent to which nursing skills are employed by nurses is dissimilar in these two hospitals. Educational needs assessment for nurses and modification of health care quality in different hospitals is recommended to be investigated.