Abstract
BACKGROUND: Clinical competence is a critical element in providing high-quality nursing care. A higher level of clinical competence positively influences patient health outcomes as well as nurses' job performance and satisfaction. Nonetheless, there is limited data on nurses' clinical competence in Ethiopia. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the level of clinical competency among nurses working in selected public hospitals. METHOD: Institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from March 1 to 30, 2022. Two hundred five randomly selected nurses from three selected hospitals in the West Shoa Zone namely H1, H2, and H3 participated in the study via a structured self-administered questionnaire. The collected data were checked for completeness and then entered Epi-data v.4.2.2 and analyzed by Stata software v.14.2. Independent t-test and analysis of variance were used to identify factors associated with nurses' clinical competence. The level of statistical significance was declared at a p-value < .05. RESULTS: The overall clinical competence of participants was 2.501 (SD = 0.36), indicating a moderate level of clinical competence. Participants had higher competence scores on the professional development dimension and lower competence scores on the leadership dimension. The null hypothesis was rejected. Age, work experience, professional satisfaction, level of satisfaction, level of hospital, current position, shifting status, retrieval of newly published information, previous training, and frequency of training were the identified factors associated with nurses' clinical competence. CONCLUSION: Nearly five in 10 participants in the study setting had inadequate clinical competence. Professional satisfaction, level of satisfaction, previous training, and frequency of training were factors related to nurses' clinical competence. It is recommended that responsible stakeholders like the Minister of Health and the Ethiopian Nursing Association should work to improve nurses' clinical competence by focusing on the identified factors. Also, health policymakers should set strategies to assess nurses' clinical competence frequently to ensure quality nursing care.