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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to understand the meaning of nursing competency in nursing higher education in Japan.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to understand the cross-cultural differences in the meaning and conceptual boundaries of nursing competency.
The purpose of this study is to clarify the concept of competency in nursing higher education from Japanese perspective and to examine the cross-cultural differences in the meaning and conceptual boundaries of nursing competency. Due to the influence of western nursing education program, the use of the competency as a strategy for evaluating nursing students in higher education has been introduced in Japan. The term “competency” is often used as an outcome of program in nursing higher education in Japan; however, a consensus on the definition and conceptual boundaries of nursing competency has not yet been achieved.
Methods:
The word “competency” is an imported word for Japanese, and there is no literal Japanese translation. Therefore, combination of concept analysis and concept derivation method offered by Walker and Avant (2005) was employed as the conceptual framework in this study. Initial definitions of competency were explored from various English dictionaries, and an extensive review in both Japanese and English literature was conducted to identify as many use of the word competency. Scholarly articles and books and research studies with a definition of or related to competency in nursing were selected to examine defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences of the concept. In order to clearly see the cross-cultural differences in understanding and conceptualizing the term competency, the concept analyses were held independently in Japanese and English literature.
Results:
The study is currently in process, and the results will be reported.
Conclusion:
The results of this study may assist researchers and educators in reexamining or reconceptualizing the term competency in relation to nursing higher education. Additionally, the results may contribute to designing curriculum and courses for quality nursing education.