Community Nurse Managers’ Views of Incompetent Nursing Practice: An Interview Study

Introduction: Nurses' professional competence is a key factor for the quality of nursing practice, as the competence level directly influences the patient’s safety. A lack of competence among nurses raises several concerns and thus contributes to adverse effects of patient outcomes. These concerns, particularly how nurse managers understand and address incompetent practices, have not been thoroughly explored in the local context. Objective: The purpose of the study was to explore nurse managers' views of incompetent nursing practice in a community healthcare setting. Methods:  A descriptive qualitative research was conducted in one single district in Brunei Darussalam with a purposive sample of nine community nurse managers from six healthcare centres. Data collection was by audio recorded of in-depth interviews. These interviews were coded and thematically analysed. Findings: The study participants discussed their perspectives on incompetent practice, the reasons for incompetence, and nurse managers' reactions to incompetence. Conclusion: The findings show that the standard views of 'incompetent' meant were elusive and inconsistent among nurse managers. Such inconsistency resulted in poor identification and management of ethical issues. Therefore, to ensure consistency, a clear view and understanding of what constitutes incompetent nursing practice must be established.