Person‐centred care competence and person‐centred care climate described by nurses in older people's long‐term care—A cross‐sectional survey

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundPerson‐centred care requires that nurses are competent in this approach to care. There may be an association between person‐centred care competence and person‐centred care climate, but it has not been demonstrated in the literature. This is the justification for the survey study to gain staff's perceptions of such a relationship.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to analyse the levels and associations between person‐centred care competence and the person‐centred care climate as assessed by professional nurses in long‐term care settings for older people.MethodsA descriptive cross‐sectional survey design with cluster sampling was used to recruit professional nurses of different levels from six long‐term care institutions for older people. Data were collected using the Patient‐centred Care Competency scale (PCC) and the Person‐centred Climate Questionnaire staff version (PCQ‐S) in September 2021 and analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics.ResultsThe mean score on the PCC was rated at a good level of 3.80 (SD 0.45), and the PCQ‐S was rated at a good level of 3.87 (SD 0.53). The correlation between PCC and PCQ‐S total scores (r = .37, p < .001) indicated that person‐centred care competence and person‐centred care climate were associated. No associations were detected between nurses’ educational levels and PCC (p = .19) or PCQ‐S (p = .13) or in terms of age or work experience.ConclusionsThe results provide insights into competence and climate levels of person‐centred care and preliminary evidence of an association between nurses’ assessed competence in person‐centred care and the perceived person‐centred care climate in long‐term care. Nurses’ individual characteristics did not appear to affect the level of person‐centred care competence or climate. In the future professional nurses of different levels could benefit from effective continuing education in person‐centred care. This study design serving for the future intervention study registered to the ClinicalTrials.goc NCT04833153