Study Sheds Light on Charge Nurse Competencies in Emergency Care
July 15, 2024 • Emergency Nurses Association ENA ENA Research JEN journal of emergency nursing Research
ENA-backed researched highlighted in July Journal of Emergency Nursing
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (July 15, 2024) – The research around charge nurse competencies in the emergency care setting is very sparse, which adds importance to the findings in “Ensuring Throughput: Development and Validation of Charge Nurse Competencies for United States Emergency Care Settings,” a study published in the July Journal of Emergency Nursing issue which outlines nine competencies and teaching methods.
A team of five researchers, including three from ENA, conducted a survey of 427 emergency nurse managers, directors, educators and charge nurses to identify competencies, teaching modes and evaluation methods. Two focus groups were held to further narrow down those elements.
The top five competencies identified for charge nurses were patient flow management, communication, situational awareness, clinical decision making and nurse-patient assessment. Though classified as five separate competencies, there is a significant overlap among them.
For both training and evaluation purposes, low-fidelity simulation and gamification were the preferred methods.
“This research sets the stage for future research to be done around other areas of nurse competency and what the best way is for those nurses to receive that training, said Journal of Emergency Nursing Editor-in-Chief Anna Valdez, PhD, RN, PHN, CEN, CFRN, CNE, FAEN, FAADN. “Current nurses can use this to advocate for resources at their hospital to support the development of charge nurse competencies.”
Gaining competencies among emergency charge nurses cannot be done in a single training. It is an ongoing development process that requires input and support from all staff in the ED in order to implement a standardized approach to improve ED throughput.
The Journal of Emergency Nursing, ENA’s peer-reviewed academic journal, is published six times a year with original research and updates from the emergency nursing specialty, while also covering practice and professional issues.
The July issue can be found online here. Other topics covered include noninvasive continuous blood pressure monitoring, availability of Certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in Appalachian States and more.
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