Medical Knowledge in Nursing—A Neglected Aspect in Descriptions of Clinical Competence? A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Background: Achieving clinical competency at the end of nursing education is vital to the development of professional standards and the assurance of patient safety. It thus becomes important to define clinical competence. In nurse education and clinical placements, students were assessed regarding their clinical competences. Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate how clinical knowledge was characterized in the assessment forms used in medical and surgical wards within nurse education. Methods: The study had a qualitative, descriptive design. The data source consisted of 100 anonymized assessment forms from medical and surgical clinical placements. The analysis was based on Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis. The article used the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist. Results: The analysis resulted in four nursing knowledge areas in clinical competences, related to: medical diagnoses and treatments of the patients, nursing actions, professional attributes and patient safety. Conclusion: This study underscored the significance of medical treatments and procedures, as well as the understanding of medical diagnoses, as key elements highlighted in the written assessment forms for evaluating nursing students' clinical competence. This contrasted with previous studies of clinical competence in nursing, which had been more broadly focused on critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making.