Factors that affect the development of nurses’ competencies: a systematic review

Objective: To investigate factors affecting the development of nursing competency based on a review of the literature. Method: A systematic review was utilized. The articles were taken from the databases of Pro-Quest, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Scopus. They were retrieved using the following keywords: nursing competence, nurse competencies and clinical competence. Twenty-one papers were selected. Results: Competence development is a continuous process of improving knowledge, attitudes and skills, and is influenced by a myriad of factors. Six factors were identified that affected the development of nursing competence in our systematic review: (1) work experience, (2) type of nursing environment, (3) educational level achieved, (4) adherence to professionalism, (5) critical thinking, and (6) personal factors. Work experience and education were shown to significantly influence the development of competency of nurses. Conclusions: Nurse managers need to support staffing competence through ongoing education, mentoring-preceptorship training, and case-reflection-discussion teaching programs.