Core Skills (core + skill)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Pediatric hospital medicine core competencies: Development and methodology

JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL MEDICINE, Issue S2 2010
Erin R. Stucky MD
Abstract Background: Pediatric hospital medicine is the most rapidly growing site-based pediatric specialty. There are over 2500 unique members in the three core societies in which pediatric hospitalists are members: the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) and the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM). Pediatric hospitalists are fulfilling both clinical and system improvement roles within varied hospital systems. Defined expectations and competencies for pediatric hospitalists are needed. Methods: In 2005, SHM's Pediatric Core Curriculum Task Force initiated the project and formed the editorial board. Over the subsequent four years, multiple pediatric hospitalists belonging to the AAP, APA, or SHM contributed to the content of and guided the development of the project. Editors and collaborators created a framework for identifying appropriate competency content areas. Content experts from both within and outside of pediatric hospital medicine participated as contributors. A number of selected national organizations and societies provided valuable feedback on chapters. The final product was validated by formal review from the AAP, APA, and SHM. Results: The Pediatric Hospital Medicine Core Competencies were created. They include 54 chapters divided into four sections: Common Clinical Diagnoses and Conditions, Core Skills, Specialized Clinical Services, and Healthcare Systems: Supporting and Advancing Child Health. Each chapter can be used independently of the others. Chapters follow the knowledge, skills, and attitudes educational curriculum format, and have an additional section on systems organization and improvement to reflect the pediatric hospitalist's responsibility to advance systems of care. Conclusion: These competencies provide a foundation for the creation of pediatric hospital medicine curricula and serve to standardize and improve inpatient training practices. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2010;5(4)(Suppl 2):82,86. © 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine. [source]


Survey ranking of job competencies by perceived employee importance: Comparing China's three regions

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2006
Jin Xiao
The acquisition of skills that match job requirements has become an issue in human resource development. A uniform but vague list of desirable skills often provided by policymakers or advocated by scholars is used as a guide in education and training programs in China. Using survey data, this study analyzes the core skills that workforces in China consider to be important in carrying out job routines in different jobs, different industries, and different geographical regions. This study surveyed 25,933 employees from 397 randomly sampled firms of four counties in each of the East, Central, and West regions of China. Twenty kinds of job skills were deduced from interviews conducted in the field. Five categories of skills were identified by the employees: dispositional characteristics, technical know-how skills, job basics, problem solving, and communication. Using a hierarchical model, the analysis is focused on whether employees in different occupations ( for example, managerial, professional, salesperson, frontline workers) had different perceptions of required job skills. The results show both differences related to occupation and work experience and similarities in perceived job competencies among industries and across three regions. [source]


The career paths of a group of Romanian nurses in Italy: a 3-year follow-up study

INTERNATIONAL NURSING REVIEW, Issue 2 2008
A. Palese rn, bnsc
Purpose:, The objective of this study was to describe for how long a homogeneous group of 17 Romanian nurses who first arrived at the ,Teaching Hospital' in Italy in 2003, stayed in the same hospital/ward of the host country, why and when they decided to move from one hospital to another, and their levels of competence in core skills, after either 6 months or 3 years. Methods:, A longitudinal study design was adopted. The first phase was carried out in 2004, the second in 2006. We used an anonymous questionnaire. Results:, Only ten of the 17 nurses, who had started working in Italy 3 years before, remained in the same Hospital where they first started working. In spite of being given the opportunity to stay, some decided to move to hospitals where it is possible to earn more money or where they could save more by living in less expensive towns. The first nurse left the hospital in the first year, five in the second and one in the third year. Levels of perceived professional independence after 3 years are very good: the permanent group had improved their skills in all areas even though they felt a lack of confidence during the first 6 months. Conclusions:, This study, within the limits of the sample and the methods, shows that foreign nurses are highly mobile in the host country and this revolves around the opportunity to earn more. With increasing recruitment of nurses from within the European continent, it is necessary to continue studying the factors that sustain foreign nurses, to find out how they can be helped, how to value their imported professional skills, how to reduce the initial lack of faith in their own abilities and to discover which strategies would encourage them to stay in the hospital where they arrived. [source]


The Phil Hearne course: an evaluation of a multidisciplinary mental health education programme for clinical practitioners

JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2000
S. Parsons CPsychol PhD GDip BSc (Hons) RNM RNG
A description and evaluation of the pilot of a 30-week multidisciplinary mental health education programme (The Phil Hearne Course) is presented. The course was based upon the expressed service needs of an NHS Trust and upon the needs of users consulted during the developmental phase of the project. The course was designed to provide core skills, relating to effective assessment, communication, intervention and networking. These skills were thought to be applicable to all mental health disciplines. The course was evaluated positively by students and staff and was found to be effective in improving practice by providing a range of core skills for mental health workers. It was also determined that students tended to over-estimate their skills in core areas, particularly care planning and record-keeping. It is intended to develop the course into a distance learning, skills-based package. [source]


Toward a more efficient and effective neurologic examination for the 21st century,

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 12 2005
T. H. Glick
Practice pressures and quality improvement require greater efficiency and effectiveness in the neurologic examination. I hypothesized that certain ,marginal' elements of the examination rarely add value and that ,core' elements, exemplified by the plantar response (Babinski), are too often poorly performed or interpreted. I analyzed 100 published, neurologic clinicopathologic conferences (CPCs) and 180 ambulatory neurologic consultations regarding 13 hypothetically ,marginal' examination components (including ,frontal' reflexes, olfaction, jaw strength, corneal reflex, etc.); also, 120 exams on medical inpatients with neurologic problems, recording definitive errors. I surveyed the recalled practices of 24 non-neurologists and reviewed the literature for relevant data or guidance. In the CPCs the ,marginal' elements of the examination were rarely provided, requested, or used diagnostically, nor did they contribute in the 180 ambulatory consultations. In the chart review errors and omissions dominated testing of plantar responses, with missed Babinski signs in 14% of all cases and 77% of patients with Babinski signs. House officers harbored unrealistic expectations for performance of ,marginal' examination elements. Most textbooks omit detailed guidance (and none cite evidence) on achieving greater efficiency. Exams should be streamlined, while improving ,core' skills. Neurologists should apply evidence to update the exam taught to students and non-neurologists. [source]