Occupational Tasks and Competencies of Flight Nurses as Considered by Nurses Certified for Emergency Nursing

Abstract

Objective: To identify occupational tasks to be fulfilled by flight nurses and the behavioral units comprising their competencies by summarizing opinions of nurses certified for emergency nursing regarding their views on what these tasks actually are and the behavioral traits manifested when effectively performing them.

Methods: Three surveys (Rounds 1–3) were conducted using a questionnaire and the Delphi methods involving 1,096 nurses certified for emergency nursing. An agreement rate of 81% was deemed to indicate a consensus.

Results: Responses were obtained from 53 in Round 1, 32 in 2, and 17 in 3. A consensus was built in 68 items representing 10 “occupational tasks to be fulfilled by flight nurses”. As for the “behavioral traits of high-performing flight nurses”, a consensus was built in 17 competencies and 90 behavioral units comprising competencies. Among them, competencies comprised of behavioral units that achieved particularly higher agreement rates were 7.

Conclusion: The behavioral units building a consensus on “the behavioral traits of high-performing flight nurses” were suggested to be reflected in “the occupational tasks to be fulfilled by flight nurses”.