Promotion of safe motherhood in the nursing competency-based curriculum

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#Nurses play a significant role in maternal health. The nursing competency-based curriculum prepares students for this role. This study identified the competencies on safe motherhood expected of graduating nursing students, determined the degree of integration of these competencies in the curriculum, and described students' perceived levels of proficiency in performing said competencies. @*Design@#This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The authors deduced concepts and principles of safe motherhood in nursing based on the 2006 standard competencies. A complete enumeration of 55 graduating students of a college of nursing in a state university in Manila participated in the study.@*Methods@#Students rated the competencies from A: “concepts were merely introduced” to D, “threaded through” in selected courses. The level of proficiency ranged from 1: “can perform well without supervision” to 4 “cannot perform despite supervision.” Ratings were analyzed using frequency counts, mode, and percentage distributions.@*Findings@#Seventy competencies on safe motherhood were derived. Cognitive and affective competencies on the basic nursing processes were threaded through in foundation, intervention, and intensive nursing process courses. Students could perform the cognitive and affective competencies without supervision but required assistance in performance of skills.@*Conclusion@#The nursing curriculum prepares students to promote safe motherhood; however, students need to improve their clinical skills to be fully competent.