Patients' perception of orthopaedic nursing competence

With the present era of consumerism, the delivery of nursing care by personnel who are competent has become ever important. Including the patient in the evaluation of nurse competence is vital. Patients have yet to be asked about their perceptions of nursing competency, orthopaedic or otherwise. The lack of published nursing research regarding patient perception of competence and patient participation in the evaluation of nursing care delivery prompted a study this area.; The method chosen for this qualitative study was a naturalistic inquiry. This study was conducted with the participation of hospitalized orthopaedic patients. Semi-structured interviews were used to engage the participants in conversation and to ascertain their perceptions of nursing competence. The study is based on two interviews with twenty-six and then twenty participants. Using interview and observation, inductive data analyses and a grounded theory approach with constant comparative analysis, a theory was uncovered. Based on the data, confirmation by participants, and peer guidance, the author describes a theory of the patients' perspective of orthopaedic nursing competence.; Patients' perception of orthopaedic nursing competence is described by three domains: helping, teaching and knowing. The categories of the helping domain are: respect, relationship/connection, care, comfort, attention/presence, responsiveness, willingness, helpfulness, and trust/security; the teaching domain: communication, education, encouragement and promoting independence; and the knowing domain: nursing process, knowing job and coordination. These domains are three integrated circles surrounded by a square that represents the nurse's attitude.; Orthopaedic nursing competence means being able to know; to give and to teach. The helping, teaching and knowing domains are surrounded by the nurse's attitude. By being interconnected, each domain is part of the other and shows that competence is fluid, based on the patient's needs. The nurse's attitude surrounds the circles. This means her knowing, helping, and teaching, her competence, are all interpreted by the patient within the context of how she presents herself. Implications for practice, education and research are presented.