Improving clinical skills retention.

High quality health care demands a nursing workforce with sound clinical technical skills, such as wound care, intravenous therapy administration and basic life support. However, the retention of clinical skills by qualified nurses is problematic, even when they have been trained successfully. Concerns are mounting, since a lack of clinical skills competency can compromise patient care and safety. Nevertheless, the actual causes of clinical skill deterioration in ecological settings are not yet fully understood. This project aims to contribute to a better understanding of the causes of the deterioration of technical skills.

Keywords:Skill decay, Retention, Professional education, Nurse, Technical skill, Clinical competence

Disciplines:Education systems