Authors

1Fidel López Espuela, 2Rosa María Blanco Prieto

Position

¹Diplomado en enfermería. Licenciado en Psicología. Supervisor Área Funcional de proyectos y programas estratégicos, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid.²Enfermera. Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal.

Contact address

Dirección de Enfermería. Hospital Ramón y Cajal. Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, Km 9,100. 28034 Madrid.

Contact email: fidelopez@hotmail.com

Abstract

Healthcare organizations conduct their activity in demanding and constantly changing settings that require a high degree of adaptability and specific training on the part of their professionals whom embody their main asset.
Effective and efficient human resources management directly affects the organization’s outcomes, being professional competence the common element that integrates both these aspects.
Competences are characteristics (motives, personality traits, values, knowledge and skills) underlying observed behaviours in a person, and are directly related with optimized performance in a specific job and organization. Competence evaluation enables us to determine the competency profile required for a certain position and that of a certain professional with the aim of accommodating both.
In these times of change in nursing training and practice it is important to move forward in the practical set-up of the concept of professional competence. Its development requires the definition of competences related to professional practice of excellence, essential for the design of graduate and post-graduate training and for the accreditation and regulation of professional practice, as well as for the design of valid and reliable instruments that measure the levels of individual competence associated with professional performance.
The unit supervisor is a key position in the nursing field, serving as the link between nursing management and staff. The mission of the unit supervisor is to reach the desired results and objectives in areas of responsibility, to promote actions for the development of professionals under his or her supervision and to stimulate the motivation and attitude required for a more efficient professional performance. Hence, the elaboration of the competency profile of these leaders must be the cornerstone in the implementation of a management competency model in the nursing field.
In this report the process of elaboration and consensus of the professional competency profile required to fill the role of unit supervisor of a hospital with third level specialized healthcare delivery is described, as well as the methodology used to this end.

Keywords:

management; Competences; human resources; supervisornursing

Versión en Español

Título:

Perfil competencial del supervisor de unidad