Nursing competencies for physical assessment of the respiratory system in Japan.

The purpose of this study was to establish the minimum essential Japanese nursing education health assessment competency levels, with particular emphasis on the respiratory system, from the viewpoint of clinical nurses and nurse educators. The design of this study was a quantitative descriptive study using the Delphi technique. The participants consisted of two groups, including 210 clinical nurses and 76 nurse educators. Questionnaires were sent three times to each group, along with summaries of each previous result. The respondents selected 29 competency items in the following categories: five structure and function items; six interview items; eight inspection items; one palpation item; six auscultation items; and three diagnostic test items. By releasing the results of this survey to nurse educators, it might be possible to improve the nursing curriculum. For clinical nurses, knowing these results will help them to bridge the gap between essential nursing education and clinical practice.