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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Gene Gosselin, BSN, MA, Michael Beck, BA, Alyce McKenna, MPH, Judy Debonis, PhD, LCSW, Maryam Navaie-Waliser, DrPH, Sue Jennings, PhD, Ahmar Iqbal, MD, MBA, Gabriela Lira, BA, and Beverly Vandyke Schalk, RN, MEd. Pfizer Health Solutions Inc, 235 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, 212-733-6801, gene.gosselin@pfizer.com

Introduction: Core competencies refer to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes (KSAOs) that are required to perform a specific job. To date, it has been difficult to identify a singular, comprehensive, user-friendly tool to assist program planners and administrators in assessing competencies among nurses providing disease management. Thus, efforts were undertaken to develop a tool focused on defining core competencies that facilitate the identification, recruitment, and staff development of nurse care managers for telephonic disease management initiatives.

Methods: A literature review revealed three key components of core competencies: (1) the operational definition of KSAOs that is associated with effective job performance, (2) underlying attributes that are observable and measurable, and (3) characteristics that distinguish between superior and other levels of performance. To ensure utility, the tool designed to capture competencies was pilot-tested by nurse care managers (n=30) providing telephonic disease management to patients with chronic conditions.

Results: Five key dimensions of core competencies were identified: (1) professionalism and teamwork, (2) clinical competence, (3) problem solving skills, (4) communication skills, and (5) technical skills. The tool, along with an interview guide, served to standardize assessments of competencies during nurse care manager recruitment and training. These instruments were comprised of questions that assessed situational behaviors based on hypothetical scenarios for care plan development, identification and execution of action steps with clinical relevance, interpersonal skills in building rapport with patient, and proficiency in use of health information technology for telephonic program delivery and data storage. A scoring system was devised for each competency, with Likert scale responses ranging from 1 to 5 where 1=low competency (does not demonstrate desired skills/attributes), 3=moderate competency (demonstrates satisfactory skills/attributes), and 5=high competency (demonstrates exceptional skills/attributes, with ability to serve as a role model). Scoring schematics were developed for aggregate and individual dimension competencies, with an option to apply hierarchical scoring using weighting methodology.

Conclusions: The care manager core competencies tool facilitates the identification of the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to assist in effectively identifying, recruiting, and providing staff development to nurses in their roles as care providers, educators, and patient advocates in disease management programs.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. To identify key dimensions of core competencies for nurse care managers in a telephonic disease management setting;
• 2. To learn the administration of the interview guide to assess nurse core competencies; and
• 3. To apply appropriate weighting methodology for competency score assessments and relevant interpretations.

Keywords: Disease Management, Public Health Nursing

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered