Core Competencies of Filipino Nurses

The role our nurses play in the success of one's treatment, and in the entire healing process, can never be underestimated.

With my recent appointment as a board director of RO Diagan Cooperative Hospital, I took the initiative to improve the nursing service. We we recognize that the main part of the responsibility to create and maintain a safe and healing environment for patients falls on the nursing service personnel. Thus, we endeavor to improve them to be clinically proficient.

Using the core competencies of Filipino nurses that embed the 12 areas of competence, we gradually put these competencies in place:

Safe and quality nursing
Management of environment and resources
Health and education
Legal responsibility
Ethico-moral responsibility
Personal and professional development
Quality improvement
Research
Records management
Communication
Collaboration and teamwork
customer service

Our nursing services strategy is meant to develop these 12 core competencies. These competencies also serve as the:

practical tool for evaluation performance of nurses
basis for advanced practice and specialization
means to protect the public from incompetent practitioners
yardstick for unethical and unprofessional practice

The Metro Pacific Group's Entry to the Health Care Industry

Now that Metro Pacific Investments Corporation of Manny V. Pangilinan had jumped into the healthcare industry through a Share Purchase Agreements with several shareholders of Davao Doctors Hospital (Clinica Hilario) Inc. (“DDH”) representing approximately 34% of the issued share capital of the corporation, industry observers welcomed this new entrant with hope and enthusiasm.

Just recently, the same Pangilinan group has taken over Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

Personally, this is good for the nursing profession in general. We will soon see a big improvement in corporate hospital practices within the chain of MPIC hospitals which according to my grapevine would go for 5000 bed capacity hospital network.

Things like JCAHO and Magnet would soon be the things to be expected from these hospitals. So this would be to the advantage of the nurses. Positive environments will become the norm.

Watch out for MPIC string of acquisitions of hospitals in Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Lipa, among others.

Philippine's Top Hospitals Should Strive to Have A Magnet Designation

Why did a number of big US hospitals need Magnet recognition?

The answer is clear: These hospitals recognize that positive patient outcomes are a result of team effort, and Magnet is a way to recognize and maintain those efforts. Magnet honors the strong nursing and interdisciplinary team practice and each individual’s commitment to quality patient care.

What is Magnet?

The Magnet Recognition Program is administered through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. It was established in 1990 and provides a method of recognizing hospitals that create and maintain a professional practice environment that ensures quality patient outcomes.

Magnet is the highest national or international recognition for excellence in the delivery of nursing services that are provided in a professional practice environment, promote quality and evidence-based practice, and result in positive patient outcomes.

Characteristics of Magnet Hospitals

Research has identified the following characteristics that are present in Magnet organizations:

Nursing

Flatter organizational structure
Higher nurse-to-patient ratios
Collaborative relationships with physicians
Broad-based participation in decision-making related to clinical care
Limited use of agency personnel
Nursing research which enhances clinical practice
Flexible patient care delivery systems
Higher percentage of B.S.N.-prepared nurses
Influential nurse executives
Investments in education and expertise of nurses
Decreased turnover rates for registered nurses
Nurses perceive that they have adequate support services

Patient Outcomes

Shorter patient length of stay
Lower utilization of ICU days
Lower mortality rates for Medicare patients
Increased patient satisfaction


14 Forces of Magnetism

Quality of Nursing Leadership: Knowledgeable, strong nurse leaders willing to take risks, a strong sense of advocacy and support on behalf of nursing.
Organizational Structure: Nursing departments are decentralized, with unit-based decision-making and strong nurse representation in committees throughout the organization. The nursing leader serves at the executive level of the organization.
Management Style: Managers involve staff at all levels of the organization. The nurse leaders communicate with staff. Feedback is encouraged and valued.
Personnel Policies and Programs: Salaries and benefits are competitive. Creative and flexible staffing, with staff involvement. Opportunities for promotion, both in clinical and administrative areas.
Professional Models of Care: Nurses have responsibility, accountability and authority in the provision of patient care. Nurses are accountable for their own practice and are coordinators of patient care.
Quality of Care: Nurses believe that they are giving high-quality care to their patients and that their organization sees high-quality care as a priority.
Quality Improvement: Staff nurses participate in the quality improvement process—see it as educational—and believe that it helps improve patient care within the organization.
Consultation and Resources: Knowledgeable experts, particularly advanced practice nurses, are available and utilized. Peer support is available and utilized.
Autonomy: Nurses are allowed and expected to work autonomously, consistent with professional standards, as members of the multidisciplinary team.
Community and Hospital: Hospitals maintain a strong community presence that includes a variety of long-term outreach programs.
Nurses as Teachers: Nurses are permitted and expected to incorporate teaching in all aspects of practice. Nurses feel teaching gives a great deal of professional satisfaction.
Image of Nursing: Nurses are seen as essential to the hospital’s delivery of patient care by nursing and other members of the health care team.
Interdisciplinary Relationships: Nurses, physicians, pharmacists, therapists and other members of the health care disciplines treat each other with mutual respect and have positive relationships.
Professional Development: Organizations emphasize orientation, inservice education, continuing education, formal education and career development. Personal and professional growth and development are values.

Doctor in Nursing Practice (DNP) Program in Asia

The University of Makati (UMAK) is contemplating of offering the Doctor in Nursing Practice (DNP) Program. This will surely be Asia's first if it will be offered on 2010.

However, let us take a look at the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP or DrNP as the title is affixed). This is an advanced-level practice degree that focuses on the clinical aspects of nursing rather than academic research.

The curriculum for the DNP degree generally includes advanced practice, leadership, and application of clinical research related to nursing. This DNP is intended primarily to prepare registered nurses (RN) to become advance practice nurses. Advanced practice roles in nursing include the nurse practitioner (NP), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), certified nurse midwife (CNM), or clinical nurse specialist (CNS).

If you notice, many other professions require entry-level professional doctorates for practice. These include the Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM), Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), Doctor of Chiropractic (DC), Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT).

According the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), transitioning advance nursing practice programs from the graduate level to the doctoral level is a "...response to changes in health care delivery and emerging health care needs, additional knowledge or content areas have been identified by practicing nurses. Thus, the DNP is a good choice for UMAK.

With a dynamic leadership at UMAK under Dr. Evelyn Ciabal and her team of young educators, UMAK will certainly etch a name in the nursing arena not just in the Philippines but in Asia as well.