10.14601/TUTOR-20696
Background. Operational unit coordinators contribute to the realization of continuing professional development events and facilitate the learning process within the organization.Objectives. Evaluating coordinators’ pedagogical competencies.Design. An observational study has been conducted with the purpose of having healthcare coordinators undergo a self-evaluation process, analyzing their pedagogical knowledge and skills by means of a questionnaire.Setting. The framework was “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospital Trust, Ancona, Italy.Participants. This study involved healthcare coordinators at Ancona’s “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospital Trust. 68 out of 86 coordinators took part in the study.Methods. An observational study has been conducted by means of a questionnaire called “Core Competencies of Nurse Educators with Task Statements”.Results. Average values for knowledge and skills range between 2.70 and 3.07, with an average score of 2.89 for knowledge and 2.86 for skills (79.1% response rate).Conclusions. Self-evaluated knowledge and skills are good, especially in theoretical setting.
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1971-8551
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en
Gilda Pelusi
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competence
The educational core competencies of a coordinator: an observational study
Text.Serial.Journal
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2017-10-06
2019-07-30
2017-10-06
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Gilda Pelusi
2017/10/06
10.14601/TUTOR-20696
20
Education and Professional Development of Healthcare Professions, “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona” Hospital Trust, via Conca 71, Torrette, Ancona, 60123, Italy
1971-8551
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competence
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The educational core competencies of a coordinator: an observational study
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tutor                                                                                                       Vol. 17, N. 2, 2017: 20-28
                                                                                                          DOI: 10.14601/Tutor-20696




           The educational core
           competencies of a coordinator: an
           observational study
                  Giulia Franceschini1, Susi Girotti2, Gilda Pelusi3
                  1
                    Registered Nurse, Neonatal Intensive Care, “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona” Hospital Trust, via Conca 71, Torrette,
                  Ancona, 60123, Italy; Phone: +39 071-32052; Mobile: +39 340-3351214. E-mail address: giulietta--2011@libero.it
                  2
                    Registered Nurse, Medical Clinic, “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona” Hospital Trust, via Conca 71, Torrette, Ancona,
                  60123, Italy. E-mail address: susi.girotti@libero.it
                  3
                    Organisational Role in the Education and Professional Development of Healthcare Professions, “Ospedali Riuniti di
                  Ancona” Hospital Trust, via Conca 71, Torrette, Ancona, 60123, Italy. E-mail address: gilda.pelusi@ospedaliriuniti.
                  marche.it

        ABSTRACT
        Background. Operational unit coordinators contribute to the realization of continuing professional develop-
        ment events and facilitate the learning process within the organization.
        Objectives. Evaluating coordinators’ pedagogical competencies.
        Design. An observational study has been conducted with the purpose of having healthcare coordinators un-
        dergo a self-evaluation process, analyzing their pedagogical knowledge and skills by means of a questionnaire.
        Setting. The framework was “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospital Trust, Ancona, Italy.
        Participants. This study involved healthcare coordinators at Ancona’s “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospital
        Trust. 68 out of 86 coordinators took part in the study.
        Methods. An observational study has been conducted by means of a questionnaire called “Core Competencies
        of Nurse Educators with Task Statements”.
        Results. Average values for knowledge and skills range between 2.70 and 3.07, with an average score of 2.89
        for knowledge and 2.86 for skills (79.1% response rate).
        Conclusions. Self-evaluated knowledge and skills are good, especially in theoretical setting.

        Key-words: Education, nurse manager, competence, evaluation.

        RIASSUNTO
        Background. I Coordinatori delle professioni sanitarie concorrono alla realizzazione degli eventi formativi;
        ad essi sono richieste alcune competenze strategiche: conoscenza della materia, centralità del discente,
        competenze relazionali, professionalità, riflessione basata sulla pratica e apprendimento basato sul sistema,
        in un’ottica andragogica orientata all’Interprofessional Learning.
        Obiettivo. L’obiettivo dello studio è valutare le competenze dei Coordinatori delle Professioni Sanitarie
        dell’Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria “Ospedali Riuniti” di Ancona nell’attivare ambienti di miglioramento
        continuo.
        Disegno di studio. È stato condotto uno studio osservazionale volto a analizzare le conoscenze e competenze
        pedagogiche dei partecipanti mediante un’attività di autovalutazione, sulla base di un apposito questionario.
        Setting. Il contesto di riferimento è l’Azienda Ospedaliera “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona”.
        Partecipanti. Sono stati coinvolti i Coordinatori delle Professioni Sanitarie dell’Azienda; sono risultati valuta-




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                                                                                ISSN (print) 1971-7296       © Firenze University Press
                                                                                ISSN (online) 1971-8551      http://www.fupress.com/tutor
                                                            The educational core competencies of a coordinator



bili ai fini dello studio 68 questionari su 86.
Metodi. Nella prima fase è stata condotta una revisione narrativa della letteratura sulle competenze peda-
gogiche in ambito sanitario; successivamente è stato somministrato a 86 coordinatori il questionario “Core
competencies of Nurse Educators with Task Statements”, strumento composto da 8 Core Competencies in cui
il professionista si autovaluta in merito alle conoscenze e abilità.
Risultati. I valori medi per conoscenze e abilità sono compresi tra 2,70 e 3,07; la media relativa alle conoscen-
ze è di 2.89 e quella relativa alle abilità è di 2.86 (79.1% response rate).
Conclusioni. L’autovalutazione di conoscenze e abilità ha portato a dei valori soddisfacenti, soprattutto per
quel che concerne l’ambito teorico.

Parole chiave: Coordinatori sanitari, competenze pedagogiche, valutazione.




INTRODUCTION                                              es, providing feedback, allowing sufficient job au-
Operational unit coordinators contribute to the           tonomy, and giving social support. They can enable
planning and realization of continuing professional       learning activities within the ward or organization
development events aimed at developing specif-            as a whole, and facilitate self-directed learning by
ic competencies, supervise nurses, offer feedback         providing resources like protocols and evidence of-
and social support, and guide professionals towards       fered by literature (Pool, Poell, Berings 2015).
working autonomy. They facilitate the learning            Educational practices are part of working in nurs-
process within the organization by using teaching         ing care. The competencies for nursing education
methods such as Problem Solving and Case Based            action are the following (Leonello, Oliveira 2008):
Learning (Yoo, Park 2014).                                - Foster integrality in healthcare; integrality must
A clinical coordinator is an individual who has               be the guiding axis of educational actions devel-
demonstrated the desire to work with students,                oped in health services, making sure that activi-
has a positive professional attitude and effective in-        ties in health promotion, prevention and recov-
terpersonal skills, is someone who demonstrates               ery are connected.
continuous professional growth and possesses              - Link theory with practice: praxis is a process
good organizational skills. The clinical coordina-            of action-reflection with the potential to change
tor should possess all of these attributes so that            reality.
dialogue between students, staff and programme is         - Foster user embracement and build bonds with
on an appropriate level. Additionally, the individual         patients: building bonds means to keep close
should serve as a good role model. To ensure that             and clear relations with patients, empathizing
those individuals selected to fulfill these roles are         with their experience.
well prepared, programs need to consider develop-         - Recognize and work as an agent to transform
ing and conducting continuing educational oppor-              health reality: thinking about education action in
tunities. Faculty development workshops with top-             health as an essential component in transform-
ics that address leadership and management skills,            ing the health reality, which can only be done
problem-solving, and decision making, need to be              with the participation of individuals involved in
developed (Deisering, Alves 1997).                            it; health professionals must see themselves as
Daily practice is a rich resource for learning and            agents to change this reality.
its learning potential should be recognized and           - Respect the autonomy of individuals regarding
used systematically. Nurse managers play a crucial            their ways of living life.
role in creating a supportive learning environment.       - Acknowledge and respect the knowledge of the
They can encourage learning by monitoring nurs-               common sense: knowledge is in constant con-



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               struction and therefore needs to be redesigned,       cellence in the nursing literature (Johnson-Farmer,
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               contextualized, compared with, and approxi-           Frenn 2009):
               mated to other kinds of knowledge.                    Drevdahal, Stackman, Purdy and Louie (Drevdhal
           - Use dialogue as a strategy to change reality in         et alii 2002) initiated a focused and systematic in-
               health: dialogue is defined as a meeting of human     quiry of their own teaching using reflective self-
               beings for a common action. It is established as      study; their aim was to guide their nursing faculty
               of 4 elements: love towards the world of indi-        to enhance scholarship of teaching by improving
               viduals, humbleness, faith in men, and critical       teaching practice and creating pedagogical content
               thinking. If these elements are defended, there       knowledge. Chow, Tang, Teng, and Yen (Chow et
               is the possibility of a horizontal pedagogical re-    alii 2003) found five essential elements to teach-
               lationship, in which trust from the learners’ side    ing: availability, caring, authenticity, empowerment,
               would be the consequence of the educators’            and a transformative curriculum. Ironside (Iron-
               actions.                                              side 2003), conducted a study that highlighted two
           - Develop pedagogic techniques that make dia-             major themes: preserving perspectival openness
               logue with patients viable.                           to different perspectives, and practicing thinking:
           - Give individuals proper information: this com-          practicing thinking in this way preserves the uncer-
               petency refers to supplying necessary informa-        tainty in clinical nursing practice and the fallibility of
               tion to individuals so that they can reflect and      current nursing knowledge within nursing schools.
               make a critical analysis of their reality. Health     Bain (Bain 2004) conducted a study where educa-
               professions should have a “bag” of knowledge          tors were observed and interviewed to arrive at
               and information, and use its content every now        indicators of excellence. Highly effective teachers
               and then. The content of the bag is not finished,     were described as designing better learning experi-
               ready, and complete. It can be built with coop-       ences because everything they did stemmed from a
               eration from the individuals being cared for.         strong understanding and concern for the develop-
           - Value and exercise engagement with a cross-sec-         ment of their students. Kalb (Kalb 2008) described
               tor approach in healthcare; it is increasingly ur-    the core competencies of nurse educators, pub-
               gent and necessary to carry out multidisciplinary     lished by The National League For Nursing in 2005,
               work.                                                 as a valuable resource for nurse educators, with
           Education action is not seen as an additional activ-      the potential to transform nursing education by in-
           ity, performed in health services, but rather as a        spiring excellence in nurse educator practice. In an
           practice that forms a foundation for, and informs,        educational environment, evaluation is a research
           all healthcare.                                           activity aimed to collecting information concerning
                                                                     the training process results (Quaglino 2005:212). A
                                                                     written evaluation of competencies acquisition is
           BACKGROUND/LITERATURE                                     preferred (Secker et alii 2014).
           Literature has highlighted how training educators
           in the healthcare sector need to master a set of
           competencies defined as “strategic”: knowledge of         OBJECTIVES
           the subject matter, centrality of the learner, inter-     The study aims to evaluate the pedagogical com-
           personal and communication skills, professionalism,       petencies of healthcare professional coordina-
           reflection and improvement based on practice, and         tors pertaining to all departments of Ancona’s
           learning based on the system (Srinivasan et alii 2011).   “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospital Trust in the
           The training experience needs to be perceived un-         activation of continuously improving environments.
           der an andragogic approach (Curran 2014), orient-         This study involves the Coordinators of different
           ed towards simulation (Richardson et alii 2014) and       healthcare sectors (nursing, obstetrics, radiology,
           Interprofessional Learning (Dahlgren 2010).               physiotherapy).
           A paucity of research exists regarding teaching ex-



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MATERIALS AND METHODS                                    can be defined also as clinical and training guides in
The study used a descriptive observational design,       the hospital ward context: they manage in the same
involving all the department coordinators and de-        measure the education of newcomers, students and
partment operational unit coordinators pertaining        trainees, with no difference among various hospital
to Ancona’s “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospital       realities.
Trust’s healthcare professions. The study has been       Coordinators are required to evaluate their own
conducted on a total sample of 86 professionals.         knowledge and skills pertaining to core compe-
The mean used for data collection, subject to the        tencies relating to quality of nurse educators, by
National League for Nursing’s prior authorization,       selecting the answer that best describes their com-
was the “Core Competencies of Nurse Educators with       petencies and abilities on the matter. The choice
Task Statements” questionnaire: the only validated       of this method allows a broad enough sample to
instrument available in literature to date and used      be able to effectively take into consideration the
by St. Catherine University in Minnesota. The que-       complex dimensions of the education process in all
stionnaire consists of 8 domains describing 66 spe-      its aspects. The areas of investigation include the
cific competencies of the nurse education coordi-        8 competencies, composed of 66 items, defined in
nator and requires each participant to undergo a         the literature as the characteristics of a healthcare
self-evaluation. It presents 66 items, analyzed from     educator:
the double point of view of theoretical knowled-         1) Competency 1 – Facilitate Learning
ge and practical skills, and measured on a Likert        Nurse educators are responsible for creating an
scale ranging from 1 “not knowledgeable” or “no          environment in classroom, laboratory and clinical
skills”, to 4 “very knowledgeable” or “fully skilled”    settings that facilitates student learning and the
(Kalb 2008). The questionnaire has been translated       achievement of desired cognitive, affective, and
in Italian in order to allow the participants to fully   psychomotor outcomes.
understand each statement.                               2) Competency 2 – Facilitate Learner Deve-
Although the tool has not been validated in Italian,     lopment and Socialization
in order to guarantee a translation as reliable as       Nurse educators recognize their responsibility in hel-
possible, three different experimenters have wor-        ping students develop as nurses and encouraging the
ked independently on the translation and they have       values and behaviors expected of those in that role.
come to an agreement on the most suitable one.           3) Competency 3 – Use Assessment and Eva-
Before the questionnaire itself, there is an infor-      luation Strategies
mation sheet explaining the objective of the study       Nurse educators use a variety of strategies to as-
to the professionals taking part and how to fill out     sess and evaluate student learning in classroom, la-
the questionnaire, as well as a short data collection    boratory and clinical settings, as well as in all other
form designed to obtain background information           domains of learning.
(such as department, age, years of service as a co-      4) Competency 4 – Participate in Curricu-
ordinator), while trying to grant maximum privacy        lum Design and Evaluation of Programme
to the professional. An experimenter was present         Outcomes
during the compilation of the tool, in order to clear    Nurse educators are responsible for formulating
doubts and answer any questions.                         programme outcomes and designing curricula that
The cohort is homogeneous in terms of age and            reflect contemporary healthcare trends and prepa-
length of service as Coordinator (average age: 52.3;     re graduates to work effectively in the healthcare
average length of service: 7.5). The study setting is    environment.
a University Hospital; in the light of this important    5) Competency 5 - Function as a Change
preliminary remark, every single Coordinator is re-      Agent and Leader
sponsible not only for the organizational compo-         Nurse educators function as change agents and lea-
nent but also for the educational one. Coordinators      ders to create a better future for nursing education
                                                         and nursing practice.



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           6) Competency 6 - Pursue Continuous Quali-                 value (2.86) in all the core competencies.
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           ty Improvement in the Nurse Educator Role                • Coordinators reported their knowledge and
           Nurse educators recognize that their role is mul-          skills are better in some areas than in others; in
           tidimensional and that an ongoing commitment to            this context, all those competences/items with
           developing and maintaining competence in the role          an average score above 3.00 have been defined
           is essential.                                              as “strengths/strong points”. The competencies
           7) Competency 7 – Engage in Scholarship                    coordinators feel they are better prepared in
           Nurse educators acknowledge that scholarship is            are the following:
           an integral component of the faculty role, and that      • Competency 1, “Facilitate Learning”, (Knowledge:
           teaching itself is a scholarly activity.                   average score = 3.06; Standard Deviation=0,54.
           8) Competency 8 – Function within the Edu-                 Skills: average score = 3.03; Standard Deviation=
           cational Environment                                       0,56). The items with the highest score for this
           Nurse educators are knowledgeable about the edu-           competency are the following:
           cational environment within which they practice            - item number 6, “Practices skilled oral, writ-
           and recognize how political, institutional, social and     ten and electronic communication that reflects
           economic forces impact their role.                         an ability to convey ideas in a variety of con-
                                                                      texts”, with an average knowledge value of 3.09
           IRB APPROVAL. IRB approval was not required for            (Standard Deviation= 0,42) and an average skills
           this study. In order to conduct this research, the         value of 3.02 (Standard Deviation= 0,45);
           authors asked for authorization from the National          - item number 7, “Models critical and reflecti-
           League for Nursing for the implementation of the           ve thinking”, with an average knowledge value of
           questionnaire and subsequently for authorization           3.07 (Standard Deviation= 0,50) and an average
           from Ancona’s “Ospedali Riuniti” University Hospi-         skills value of 3.06 (Standard Deviation= 0,52);
           tal Trust for the implementation of the question-          - item number 9, “Show enthusiasm for te-
           naire within the Hospital. Both authorizations were        aching, learning, and nursing that inspires and
           granted; The National League for Nursing agreed            motivates students”, with an average knowledge
           to the publication of the results.                         value of 3.12 (Standard Deviation= 0,64) and an
                                                                      average skills value of 3.04 (Standard Deviation=
                                                                      0,66);
           RESULTS                                                     - item number 10, “Demonstrates interest
           68 out of 86 coordinators took part in the study,          in and respect for learners”, with an average
           with a 79.1% response rate. The average age was            knowledge value of 3.43 (Standard Deviation=
           52.3 years old, while the average length of service        0,53) and an average skills value of 3.48 (Stan-
           as coordinators was 7.5 years.                             dard Deviation= 0,53);
           The data analysis is based on descriptive statistics,      - item number 11, “Uses personal attribu-
           because of the lack of a relevant program for infe-        tes (e.g., caring, confidence, patience, integri-
           rential statistics. Authors have chosen the statisti-      ty and flexibility) that facilitate learning”, with
           cs data that better describe the cohort details and        an average knowledge value of 3.22 (Standard
           characteristics: the mean and standard deviation.          Deviation= 0,45) and an average skills value of
           In this way, the reader can understand where the           3.21(Standard Deviation= 0,51);
           statistical sample is placed and the dispersion from       - item number 12, “Develops collegial wor-
           the mean value.                                            king relationships with students, faculty collea-
           This analysis shows the following:                         gues, and clinical agency personnel to promote
           • Coordinators reported to have good knowledge             positive learning environments”, with an average
               and skills: values range between 2.70 and 3.07.        knowledge value of 3.13 (Standard Deviation=
           • There is a slight differential between the avera-        0,52) and an average skills value of 3.07 (Stan-
               ge knowledge value (2.89) and the average skills       dard Deviation= 0,56);



             24
                                                            The educational core competencies of a coordinator



   - item number 13, “Maintains the professional             learners meet their professional goals” with an
   practice knowledge base needed to help lear-              average knowledge value of 3.04 (Standard De-
   ners prepare for contemporary nursing practi-             viation= 0,58) and an average skills value of 3.06
   ce”, with an average knowledge value of 3.10              (Standard Deviation= 0,57);
   (Standard Deviation= 0,46) and an average skills          - item number 21, “Assists learners to de-
   value of 3.07 (Standard Deviation= 0,50);                 velop the ability to engage in thoughtful and
   - item number 14, “Serves as a role model of              constructive self- and peer-evaluation”, with
   professional nursing”, with an average knowled-           an average knowledge value of 3.03 (Standard
   ge value of 3.15 (Standard Deviation= 0,48) and           Deviation= 0,60) and an average skills value of
   an average skills value of 3.14 (Standard Devia-          3.01(Standard Deviation= 0,56).
   tion= 0,46);                                         •    In Competency 5, “Function as a Change Agent
• Competency 6, “Pursue Continuous Quality Impro-            and Leader”, item number 37, “Models cultural
   vement in the Nurse Educator Role” (knowledge:            sensitivity when advocating for change”, stands
   average score = 3.07; Standard Deviation= 0,64.           out, with an average knowledge value of 3.18
   Skills: average score = 3.04; Standard Devia-             (Standard Deviation= 0,46) and an average skills
   tion= 0,65). The items with the highest score             value of 3.10 (Standard Deviation= 0,43).
   for this competency are the following:               •    Coordinators reported they feel less prepared
   - item number 47 “Participates in professio-              in some of the aspects described below; in this
   nal development opportunities that increase               context, all those competences/items with an
   one’s effectiveness in the role”, with an average         average score below 2.80 have been defined as
   knowledge value of 3.21 (Standard Deviation=              “weaknesses”.
   0,59) and an average skills value of 3.24 (Stan-     •    Competency 3, “Use Assessment and Evaluation
   dard Deviation= 0,56);                                    Strategies” (knowledge: average score = 2.79;
   - item number 49, “Uses feedback gained                   Standard Deviation= 0,70. Skills: average score
   from self, peer, student, and administrative eva-         = 2.75; Standard Deviation= 0,67). The items
   luation to improve role effectiveness”, with an           with the lowest score for this competency are
   average knowledge value of 3.09 (Standard De-             the following:
   viation= 0,60) and an average skills value of 3.06        - item number 24, “Uses a variety of strate-
   (Standard Deviation= 0,63);                               gies to assess and evaluate learning in the cogni-
   - item number 50, “Engages in activities that             tive, psychomotor, and affective domains”, with
   promote one’s socialization to the role”, with an         an average knowledge value of 2.57 (Standard
   average knowledge value of 3.12 (Standard De-             Deviation= 0,76) and an average skills value of
   viation= 0,69) and an average skills value of 3.06        2.55 (Standard Deviation= 0,70);
   (Standard Deviation= 0,70);                               - item number 25, “Implements evidence-ba-
   - item number 52, “Mentors and supports                   sed assessment and evaluation strategies that
   faculty colleagues”, with an average knowledge            are appropriate to the learner and to learning
   value of 3.16 (Standard Deviation= 0,59) and an           goals”, with an average knowledge value of 2.74
   average skills value of 3.16 (Standard Deviation=         (Standard Deviation= 0,73) and an average skills
   0,62);                                                    value of 2.66 (Standard Deviation= 0,71);
Concerning the other competencies, it is possible            - item number 28, “Demonstrates skill in
to highlight a few items scoring high average values         the design and use of tools for assessing clinical
(average above 3.00):                                        practice”, with an average knowledge value of
• In Competency 2, “Facilitate Learner Develop-              2.79 (Standard Deviation= 0,68) and an average
   ment and Socialization”, the following items stand        skills value of 2.75 (Standard Deviation= 0,68).
   out:                                                 •    Competency 4, “Participate in Curriculum Design
   - item number 17, “Engages in effective ad-               and Evaluation of Programme Outcomes” (Knowle-
   visement and counselling strategies that help             dge: average score = 2.72; Standard Deviation=



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              0.76. Skills: average score = 2.70; Standard De-        in item number 22, “Models professional beha-
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              viation= 0,74); The items with the lowest score         viours for learners including, but not limited to,
              for this competency are the following:                  involvement in professional organisations, en-
              - item number 30, “Demonstrates knowledge               gagement in lifelong learning activities, dissemi-
              of curriculum development including identifying         nation of information through publications and
              programme outcomes, developing competency               presentations, and advocacy”, with an average
              statements, writing learning objectives, and se-        knowledge value of 2.66 (Standard Deviation=
              lecting appropriate learning activities and eva-        0,75) and an average skills value of 2.69 (Stan-
              luation strategies”, with an average knowledge          dard Deviation= 0,76);
              value of 2.76 (Standard Deviation= 0,70) and an     •   In Competency 5, “Function as a Change Agent
              average skills value of 2.72 (Standard Deviation=       and Leader”, the lowest scores can be seen in the
              0,69);                                                  following items:
              - item number 32, “Revises the curriculum               - item number 42, “Provides leadership in the
              based on assessment of programme outcomes,              parent institution as well as in the nursing pro-
              learner needs, and societal and health care             gramme to enhance the visibility of nursing and
              trends”, with an average knowledge value of             its contributions to the academic community”,
              2.78 (Standard Deviation= 0,73) and an average          with an average knowledge value of 2.63 (Stan-
              skills value of 2.75 (Standard Deviation= 0,68);        dard Deviation= 0,79) and an average skills value
              - item number 33, “Implements curricular                of 2.55 (Standard Deviation= 0,76);
              revisions using appropriate change theories and         - item number 43, “Promotes innovative
              strategies”, with an average knowledge value of         practices in educational environments”, with an
              2.67 (Standard Deviation= 0,81) and an average          average knowledge value of 2.75 (Standard De-
              skills value of 2.64 (Standard Deviation= 0,81);        viation= 0,72) and an average skills value of 2.69
              - item number 34, “Creates and maintains                (Standard Deviation= 0,76).
              community and clinical partnerships that sup-       •   In Competency 6, “Pursue Continuous Quality Im-
              port educational goals”, with an average know-          provement in the Nurse Educator Role” the lowest
              ledge value of 2.75 (Standard Deviation= 0,76)          scores can be seen in item number 51, “Uses
              and an average skills value of 2.74 (Standard De-       knowledge of legal and ethical issues relevant to
              viation= 0,75);                                         higher education and nursing education as a ba-
              - item number 35, “Collaborates with exter-             sis for influencing, designing, and implementing
              nal constituencies throughout the process of            policies and procedures related to students, fa-
              curriculum revision”, with an average knowledge         culty, and the educational environment”, with an
              value of 2.47 (Standard Deviation= 0,88) and an         average knowledge value of 2.70 (Standard De-
              average skills value of 2.46 (Standard Deviation=       viation= 0,74)and an average skills value of 2.67
              0,87);                                                  (Standard Deviation= 0,77).
              - item number 36, “Designs and implements           •   In Competency 7, “Engage in Scholarship”, the
              programme assessment models that promote                lowest scores can be seen in item number 57,
              continuous quality improvement of all aspects           “Demonstrates skill in proposal writing for ini-
              of the programme”, with an average knowledge            tiatives that include, but are not limited to, rese-
              value of 2.69 (Standard Deviation= 0,70) and an         arch, resource acquisition, programme develop-
              average skills value of 2.72 (Standard Deviation=       ment, and policy development”, with an average
              0,69).                                                  knowledge value of 2.75 (Standard Deviation=
           Concerning the other competencies, it is possible          0,75) and an average skills value of 2.73 (Stan-
           to highlight a few items scoring an average value          dard Deviation= 0,80).
           below 2.80:                                            •   In Competency 8, “Function within the Educatio-
           • In Competency 2, “Facilitate Learner Development         nal Environment”, the lowest scores can be seen
              and Socialisation”, the lowest scores can be seen       in the following items:



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                                                              The educational core competencies of a coordinator



   - item number 61, “Develops networks, colla-              and accountability of these events. The monitoring
   borations, and partnerships to enhance nursing’s          of the educational activities planned and implemen-
   influence within the academic community”, with            ted by clinical coordinators aims to evaluate their
   an average knowledge value of 2.55 (Standard              own pedagogical skills’ improvement and to gua-
   Deviation= 0,78) and an average skills value of           rantee appropriate educational activities for heal-
   2.48 (Standard Deviation= 0,79);                          thcare professionals, so that the patient can benefit
   - item number 62, “Determines own pro-                    from plans of action based on best practice. Depen-
   fessional goals within the context of academic            ding on the presence of possible critical points, the
   nursing and the mission of the parent institution         monitoring phase will be followed by appropriate
   and nursing program”, with an average knowled-            educational and/or organizational actions, aimed at
   ge value of 2.64 (Standard Deviation= 0,69) and           strenuous quality improvement.
   an average skills value of 2.59 (Standard Devia-
   tion= 0,72);
   - item number 66, “Advocates for nursing and              CONCLUSIONS
   nursing education in the political arena”, with an        Pushing educators to evaluate their own pedagogic
   average knowledge value of 2.59 (Standard De-             competencies is a strategic choice that could help
   viation= 0,88) and an average skills value of 2.54        them develop a better awareness of what their li-
   (Standard Deviation= 0,85).                               mits are and it is a choice that deserves to receive
                                                             more time and resources, in order to implement
                                                             organizational and professional improvements. This
DISCUSSION                                                   concept is well described in the protocol entitled
Given the critical points that arose in the coordina-        “Conduction and Management of Continuing Edu-
tors’ evaluation and collaboration during the process        cation”, which has become a tool used on a daily
aiming to improve education quality, and considering         basis in the Hospital setting, at every healthcare
the fact that a well-prepared educator is the foun-          professional’s disposal, and a point of reference for
dation of a good learning process, it is of paramount        healthcare education.
importance to adequately train the educators. Based          In the light of the results described, several brie-
on this study’s results, it is strongly suggested that in-   fings regarding Hospital coordinators and academic
vestment is made in evaluation strategies especially,        healthcare professors have been conducted, in or-
as this was shown as the weakest area. Coordinators          der to allow a constructive contact between the
are constantly involved in planning education for staff      clinical and the educational worlds and decrease
and students, and the evaluation phase, as part of           the gap between theory and practice in healthcare.
pedagogical process, can be seen as a continual rese-        After finding critical points concerning the Educa-
arch; it can lead to a discovery of the weakest areas,       tional Competencies and proposing improvement
thus providing the opportunity to strengthen them.           strategies, it would be advisable to evaluate the
From the perspective of professional development,            developments achieved by doing a regular and ac-
the educational and pedagogical activities planned           curate check of the educational project quality and
and implemented by clinical coordinators have                giving the same questionnaire to the coordinators’
been analyzed. In light of the problems highlighted,         cohort again, after a certain period of time.
a course for healthcare coordinators, oriented to            In adopting descriptive statistics, we faced the dif-
deepen the core competencies of the clinical co-             ficulty of correlating the results with socio-demo-
ordinator, has been set up and a protocol entitled           graphic variables and the reference context.
“Conduction and Management of Continuing Edu-
cation” has been elaborated with the purpose of
helping the coordinators in this field to plan, con-         ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
duct and organize educational events and to genera-          The article was translated with the precious contri-
te documents that can be used for the accreditation          bution of Federica Bruniera, JP/EN/FR > IT Freelan-



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 tutor Volume 17, Numero 2, ottobre 2017

           ce Translator, Ikigai Translations; m: +16043551155;               Johnson-Farmer B., Frenn M. (2009), Teaching Excellence:
Articolo




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