Nurse competence in the interface between primary and tertiary healthcare services.

Aims: (a) To explore nurses' self-assessed competence and perceived need for more training in primary and tertiary healthcare services; and (b) to investigate the factors associated with these issues.

Design: Quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive.

Methods: The ProffNurseSAS, the Job Satisfaction Scale and socio-demographics were used. A convenient sampling method was used to invite registered nurses from 23 primary ( = 104) and tertiary care wards ( = 26).

Results: Five significant differences in self-assessed competence were identified, with none regarding the perceived need for more training between nurses working in primary versus tertiary health care. Nurses in primary health care had longer experience, and a larger proportion had continuing education. Nevertheless, this was not associated with either self-assessed competence or the perceived need for more training. Years of experience, training or reported job satisfaction was not associated with the items on the ProffNurseSAS.

Conclusion: Findings indicate that nurses' competence is same in primary and tertiary healthcare settings. Moreover, the findings of this research highlight areas that need further improvement and emphasis from both leaders and educational institutions when they attempt to ensure nurses' competence.