Background/Purpose: The role of the Rheumatology Nurse Specialist is a complex one, with wide variation in titles, practice and responsibility ,world wide. Therefore, in the united Kingdom, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Rheumatology Forum developed a Competency Framework for Rheumatology Nurses, which was published in March 2020. The competency aims to support personal development plans, continuing professional development and career progression for rheumatology nurses to advance practice acting as a benchmarking tool, providing a framework to support succession planning and service development, forming a base for an international standard curriculum for training. Following its launch, we carried out an evaluation of rheumatology nurses views of the competency, and identified benefits limitations, and any recommendations.

Methods: We used a sequential research design utilising a questionnaire circulated form 13th March to 25th April 2021 followed by semi-structured interviews between May 2021 and August 2021.

Results: 106 people responded to the survey, 99(93%) working as adult rheumatology nurses there were 55(52%) band 7 nurses and a wide range of job titles. Most nurses, 93(87%) had academic qualification at degree or Masters level. Most respondents77(73%) were from England. 74(70%) found out about the competency via the RCN Rheumatology Nurse Forum page or via the British Society for Rheumatology website (35%). Most (71%) respondents had been in their present role for 5 years or more, and 53(50%) nurses had been on their role for more than 10 years. When asked whether they had used the competency framework in their practice; 57(54%) said they had. Reasons for using it were; to provide a framework for learning, to use as a benchmarking tool, for CPD, for teaching, to demonstrate skills and knowledge , when managing others, to show managers how their role can develop. Redeployment due to COVID 19 and work force issues were the main reason why the competency was not implemented fully. However using it with new staff was cited as beneficial. Free text comments described very good detail and identification of learning needs giving good understanding of the underpinning knowledge. 15 nurses responded for interviews and 14 were conducted. The average length of the interview was 12 minutes totalling 171 minutes. We asked why they used they used the competency, for any potential strengths or limitations, how much time it took to complete, and if they would use it again, improvement suggestions. if they would recommend it to others, and whether it was easy to locate. People said a paediatric rheumatology module and an accessible course focussed on leadership is needed. When asked to summarise the competency in 5 words. One said it was “a reliable tool to improve quality of care and set standards for Rheumatology Nurses.

Conclusion: The competency was well received as a strengthening resource for UK Rheumatology Nurses. We recommend that these competencies are universally adopted. Further dissemination is required and education needs must be addressed. A development framework is planned. Further analysis will be published later in 2022 with a review of the competency due in 2023.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/developing-and-evaluating-a-rheumatology-nurse-competency-framework-to-guide-professional-development-and-career-progression/