PDNS Core Competencies

Aims & Objectives  

The aim of this project is to foster the provision of international consistent, high quality nursing care for people with PD and their carers. It's key goals are:

• To facilitate the uniform development of PDNS practice internationally.
• To establish an international framework for guiding the development of comparable standards and core competencies in specialty-focused nursing practice. 

In support of the overall aim and key goals, the project seeks to accomplish the following objectives by December 2008:

• To undertake an international audit of the current state of PDNS practice.
• To develop, disseminate and promote an international framework to guide the development of specialist nurse core competencies and standards, and provide a model from which competencies and standards could be developed in other specialty areas.
• To develop, disseminate, promote and implement an International profile¹ and framework of core competencies² and standards³ foror the PDNS within the continuum of generalist to advanced practice.

Beneficiaries  

The following highlights the various groups and ways they will benefit from this programme of work.

• Public

  Widespread adoption of competencies and standards means that patients and their carers receive high quality and safe nursing services.

• Government and policy makers

  Informs new models of care delivery and policies that promote the effective integration and utilization of the PDNS and other specialists within health systems.

• PDNS

  Provides a clear picture of the roles and responsibilities of the specialist nurse and promotes collective and professional accountability.  Provides a framework to guide and evaluate practice and a structure for developing practice.

• Health care teams

  Clarifies the contribution of the specialist nurse in relation to other professions within the multidisciplinary team. 

• Employers and managers

  Provides a foundation for setting job-specific performance criteria and guides recruitment and selection practices.  Enhances collaborative practice and the specialist nurse role and contribution within organisations

• Education

  Provides a foundation for the design of curricula and processes of assessment in both theory and practice settings, which ensures that the specialist nurse is educated and trained to meet the needs of patients and their carers.

• Regulatory bodies

  Informs the process of ensuring protection of the public.

• Human resource (HR) planners

  Aids in determining appropriate staffing levels, future HR needs and the planning of educational programmes.

• Other nursing specialties

  Provides a basis from which to develop profiles, competencies and standards in other specialty areas in various regions of the world.

• National nurses associations

  Aids in raising the level of awareness in key groups of the role, potential impact and benefit of having specialist nurses and specialised practice.

• Research

  Advances nursing practice (e.g. through research into interventions, practice models, etc.).  Provides a foundation for developing nurse specialist-sensitive quality indicators necessary for measuring patient care outcomes.

Project Components  

This project comprises three separate though complementary components to foster the provision of international consistent, high quality care for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and their carers. 

• The first addresses the existing gap in information on how the practice of the Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialist (PDNS) is organised internationally;
• the second and third components address the need for a uniform approach to the development of international specialty practice.

Component One: Audit of international PDNS Practice

To undertake an audit of the current state of international PDNS practice (e.g. the number of PD nurse specialists practicing and their geographical distribution, care settings, job descriptions, working relationships, educational preparation, scope of practice, accountability, authority and degree of autonomy, and regulatory requirements, etc.).

A summary report of all relevant data will be compiled and information disseminated.  This report will provide important baseline data on international PDNS practice, as well as inform the development of the Profile and Framework of Core Competencies and Standards for the PDNS.

Component Two:  International Profile and Framework of Core Competencies and Standards for the Specialist Nurse

To develop, disseminate and promote an international framework to guide the development of specialist nurse core competencies and standards, and provide a model from which competencies and standards could be developed in other specialty areas.

The International Framework of Core Competencies and Standards for the Specialist Nurse and the accompanying Implementation Model will be disseminated widely to all relevant groups via email.

Component Three:  International Profile and Framework of Core Competencies and Standards for the PDNS

To develop, disseminate, promote and implement an international profile and framework of core competencies and standards for the PDNS within the continuum of generalist to advanced practice.

The international Profile and Framework of Core Competencies and Standards for the PDNS, along with the implementation model, will be disseminated widely to all relevant groups.