e-ISSN: 2448-8062
ISSN: 0188-431X
RESEARCH
César Iván Ayala-Guzmán,1 Elizabeth Verde-Flota,1 Araceli Monroy-Rojas,1 María Elena Contreras-Garfias,1 Juan Gabriel Rivas-Espinosa1
1Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Departamento de Atención a la Salud. Ciudad de México, México
This project was approved by Consejo Divisional de Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, March 7th 2013.
Project number: 3450534.
Correspondence: César Iván Ayala-Guzmán
Email: cayala@correo.xoc.uam.mx; nutrivan@hotmail.es
Received: April 27th 2016
Judged: August 8th 2016
Accepted: October 10th 2016
Introduction: Undoubtedly, the training of competent professionals ensures professional, productive, social, cognitive, cultural and emotional success for them. Because of this, there is a close relationship between training competences and their requirements at the workplace.
Objective: To analyze the relationship between the development of generic competences in education and work demands in graduates of a bachelor of nursing in Mexico.
Methods: It was carried out a cross-sectional study using a survey administered to 73 college graduates from a bachelor of nursing between 2000 and 2006. The structured questionnaire was sent electronically. It included the following dimensions of analysis: I. Graduate general information, II. Training in bachelor of nursing, III. Continuity of professional traning, IV. Integration into the labor market, V. Coincidence of work with the academic training received, VI. Scale for the degree of demand and development of different competences. Descriptive statistics were used and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated.
Results: It was found a positive correlation between the development of generic competences and the demands in the workplace (p < 0.05), except for research abilities (2.62 vs 3.17). Improvement of competencies is required more at university than in the working environment.
Conclusion: Excepting research abilities, there is a positive correlation between the development of generic competences in the educational environment with the demands of the work environment.
Keywords: Nursing; Mexico; Professional practice; Competency-based education; Research
The training of nursing professionals requires mechanisms that lead to the proposal of alternative solutions according to the educational needs and health problems facing society. In this respect, transformation in all areas of society and, in particular the demands for educational institutions, force them to seek greater efficiency and educational effectiveness, since they play a central role in this process, that of reorienting directions and redefining strategies in human resources training. This implies analyzing the ideological, economic, and social level, as well as substantially modifying knowledge and the way of conceptualizing the teaching-learning process.1
In this context there are a number of family, social, gender, and educational factors, among others, which largely define the professional future of university students. These factors determine their academic progress and therefore incorporation into the workplace with the best opportunities.2
In the face of these challenges, a positive, coherent, and critical response can be formed that helps to curb the lag that currently exists in scholarship level compared to other countries and, in some way, reduce the educational gap with other nations.3 Consequently, the obligation of educational institutions is to offer and implement educational programs that bring the student closer to the working world during their teaching-learning process.4
The Tuning project is an initiative that emerged with the aim of responding to European higher education needs to become a global proposal through a network of learning communities. This project has been developed with three axes: 1) the degree profile; 2) the curriculum; and 3) the trajectories of the learner. With well-designed steps and a dynamic perspective for adaptation to different contexts, this methodology aims to build compatible and comparable qualifications that are relevant to society and have quality and excellence levels. Nevertheless, at the same time, it preserves the valuable diversity that comes from the traditions of study in each country. Afterward it goes through an internationalization process, Tuning Latin America (2004), through which metaphors and profiles are elaborated in 15 thematic areas. Likewise, the opinion of nursing professionals regarding generic competences of the project has been previously reported and the joint construction of methodological strategies to develop and evaluate competency training has been promoted.5,6
A competence is defined as "skill, aptitude, or suitability to do something or intervene on a given subject."7 Thus, a labor competency can be understood as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that allow one to perform a certain job function,8 i.e., to use knowledge and personal qualities to deal with the various problems that may occur during professional practice. It has been established that a person competent in professional action must possess four basic components of knowledge:8-10
According to this perspective, the competences cover a set of capacities that unfold in such a way that the person is able to perform multiple tasks in different environments (labor, productive, social, cognitive, cultural, affective) and in a specific or changing context. A professional who is competent has the skills and attitudes as well as the knowledge necessary to successfully perform their different tasks in changing contexts, solve problems autonomously, and collaborate in their work environment and work organization.4,9
In this sense, the competences proposed by the Tuning project10 represent a dynamic combination of knowledge, understanding, skills, and abilities. These are divided into generic competences (common for different courses) or specific (related to an area of knowledge). Generic competences are common shared elements for any degree, for example: the ability to learn to make decisions, design projects, or enhance interpersonal skills. On the other hand, the specific competences are a complements to the generic ones and they are related to a field of study.
Without doubt, the training of competent professionals ensures their professional, productive, social, cognitive, cultural, and affective success. Derived from the above, a close relationship exists between the training of competencies and the demands of the same in the labor field, that is to say, as they are learned in educational institutions, they must be demanded for practical application in professional exercise. There is a need for a dialogue between educational institutions that train nursing human resources with health sector institutions in order to analyze, in the context of supply and demand, common strategies that respond to the care needs of the main health problems in the country.
Updating curricula is a priority, as well as defining institutional development policies at the state, regional, and national levels for competency-based training as the best tool for work. In particular, training nursing professionals with more and better competencies will enable them to provide risk-free nursing care at all levels of health care.
Through the opinion of a group of nursing program exiting students of a public university in Mexico City, the objective was to analyze the relationship between the development of generic competences in the educational field and the demands in the labor field.
A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out by applying a self-administered survey to 73 nursing program exiting students from a public university in Mexico City, who began their studies in the period from 2000 to 2006. The contact data of the exiting students were obtained through a directory provided by the coordination area of school services in the university. Prior to data collection, a pilot test was conducted to measure the effectiveness and practicality of the instrument.
Once the exiting students were located, contact was via email, through which they were sent a structured questionnaire with the following dimensions of analysis: I.General data of the exiting student; II.Undergraduate degree studies; III.Continuity of vocational training; IV.Insertion in the labor market; V.Coincidence of work with academic training received; VI.Scale of the degree of exigency and development of the different competences.11 The study goes from low to high degree in development of competences and demands in the labor scope, by a scale of 1 to 4. For the latter, four factors were created according to the unit of analysis of the questions in the different competencies of the Tuning project: 1) Learning process; 2) Social values; 3) Technological and international context; and 4) Interpersonal skills.
Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS software, version 21. Pearson's correlations, Chi-squared, and Fisher's exact statistical test were calculated. The results were considered statistically significant when there was a p<0.05.
Of the total number of exiting students, 76.7% were single, and the majority were women (86.3%). The mean age at the beginning of the degree program was 22.3±3.5; and at the time of the survey, 26.5±3.5 years. The average time to complete 100% of the credits of the program was of 4.2±0.5. A little more than half of the exiting students graduated (57.7%) of which only 33.8% had done postgraduate studies and of these, 50% were specializations.
Currently 75.4% of the exiting students are employed, mainly in the public sector (75%). The rest are in private institutions and 52.3% of the exiting students reported having obtained employment in less than six months after completing their degree. Regarding their activities in the workplace, 89.8% provided direct care to patients; 41.2% were general nurses; and 37.3% nursing assistants. It should be noted that 13.7% of the exiting students did research activities. As for the monthly income, 27.1% received more than $11,001 pesos with 35.7 average working hours per week.
81.3% of the exiting students reported a complete overlap between their work activities and academic training (Table I).
Table I. Features of exiting group of nursing undergraduate students (n=73) | |||||
Variable | Frecuency | % | Variable | Frecuency | % |
Sex | Civil status | ||||
Male | 10 | 13.7 | Single | 56 | 76.7 |
Female | 63 | 86.3 | Married | 13 | 17.8 |
Finished studies | Free union | 4 | 5.5 | ||
Yes | 55 | 75.0 | Graduated | ||
No | 18 | 25.0 | Yes | 42 | 57.7 |
Had postgraduate studies (n=42) | No | 31 | 42.3 | ||
Yes | 14 | 33.8 | Currently employed | ||
No | 28 | 66.2 | Yes | 55 | 75.0 |
Studies after undergraduate program (n=42) | No | 18 | 25.0 | ||
Diploma program | 13 | 30.0 | Legal status of the company (n=55) | ||
Specialization | 21 | 50.0 | Public | 41 | 75.0 |
Master’s | 8 | 20.0 | Private | 14 | 25.0 |
Time it took to find employment | Labor activities (n=55) | ||||
Less than 6 months | 38 | 52.3 | Direct patient attention | 49 | 89.8 |
From 6 months to 1 year | 18 | 24.6 | Administrative | 44 | 79.6 |
From 1 to 2 years | 8 | 10.8 | Managerial | 25 | 46.2 |
Did not find employment | 9 | 12.3 | Teaching | 22 | 39.7 |
Initial position (n=55) | Investigation | 19 | 34.2 | ||
General nurse | 23 | 41.8 | Monthly income (n=55) | ||
Assistant nurse | 21 | 38.2 | Between $3000 and $5000 | 10 | 18.8 |
Investigator | 8 | 14.5 | Between $5001 and $7000 | 10 | 16.7 |
Others | 3 | 5.5 | Between $7001 and $9000 | 12 | 22.9 |
Correspondence of undergraduate program and job (n=55) | Between $9001 and $11,000 | 8 | 14.6 | ||
Do not coincide | 1 | 2.1 | $11,001 or higher | 15 | 27.0 |
Low correspondence | 1 | 2.1 | Mean±DE | ||
Medium correspondence | 8 | 14.5 | Hours worked per week | 35.7±10 | |
Total correspondence | 45 | 81.3 | Age when began undergraduate program | 22.3±3.5 | |
Age currently | 26.5±3.5 |
Training of labor competencies
The competences with the greatest development during the participants' university formation corresponded to the capacity for abstraction, analysis, and synthesis (3.21); being responsible in social and civic commitments (3.22); being able to motivate and lead towards common goals (3.25); maintain commitment to environmental preservation (3.20); and to the sociocultural environment (3.25); developing skills to work autonomously (3.31); and with ethical commitment (3.22). Further, less developed skills were ability to communicate in a second language (2.53); use of information and communication technologies (2.96); and ability to work in international contexts (2.98). In this same area, differences were found in the development of competences and the labor demand, in terms of research ability (0.55); motivating and leading toward common goals (0.31); and formulating and managing projects (0.26).
Competancy development is greater in the university than that required in the workplace. On the other hand, no difference was found between the job requirement score and the development of knowledge in the study area and the profession (Table II).
Table II. Average score of the demands in the labor field and the development of labor competences in the university (n=73) |
|||
Variables | Factor | Requirement of competences in the workplace (Mean±DE) |
Developed university competencies (Mean±DE) |
Abstraction, analysis, and synthesis abilities | F1 | 3.07±0.86 | 3.21±0.87 |
Ability to apply knowledge in practice | F1 | 3.25±1.20 | 3.09±0.94 |
Ability to organize and plan time | F4 | 3.04±1.10 | 3.10±0.74 |
Knowledge of the area of study and the profession | F1 | 3.17±1.13 | 3.17±0.91 |
Social and civic responsibility | F2 | 3.28±1.14 | 3.22±1.01 |
Oral and written communication skills | F1 | 3.19±1.04 | 3.17±1.04 |
Second language communication skills | F3 | 2.34±1.14 | 2.53±1.06 |
Information and communication technology skills | F3 | 2.89±1.12 | 2.96±1.10 |
Research skills | F1 | 2.62±1.14 | 3.17±1.23 |
Ability to learn and update permanently | F1 | 3.06±1.04 | 3.19±1.09 |
Abilities to search, process, and analyze information from various sources | F1 | 3.02±0.97 | 3.11±1.17 |
Ability to self-criticize | F1 | 3.06±0.94 | 3.14±1.09 |
Ability to act in new situations | F4 | 3.16±1.11 | 3.10±1.08 |
Creative Ability | F4 | 3.19±0.99 | 3.18±0.93 |
Ability to identify, plan, and resolve problemas | F1 | 3.25±1.01 | 3.08±1.02 |
Ability to make decisions | F4 | 3.26±1.13 | 3.14±1.04 |
Teamwork ability | F4 | 3.22±1.23 | 3.08±1.01 |
Interpersonal ability | F4 | 3.08±1.07 | 3.12±0.76 |
Ability to motivate and lead to common goals | F4 | 2.94±1.06 | 3.25±0.82 |
Commitment to preserving the environment | F2 | 3.04±0.87 | 3.20±0.76 |
Commitment to socio-cultural environment | F2 | 3.18±0.71 | 3.25±0.82 |
Value and respect for diversity and multiculturalism | F2 | 3.16±0.92 | 3.12±0.97 |
Ability to work in internacional contexts | F3 | 2.96±0.97 | 2.98±0.97 |
Ability to work autonomously | F4 | 3.12±0.91 | 3.31±0.83 |
Ability to formulate and manage projects | F4 | |2.86±1.02 | 3.12±1.04 |
Ethical commitment | F2 | 3.18±1.27 | 3.22±1.23 |
Commitment to quality | F4 | 3.22±1.23 | 3.16±1.21 |
Scale from 1 to 4=the highest score means greater requirement and competence development; DE=standard deviation F1=factor 1: learning process; F2=factor 2: social values; F3=factor 3: technological and international context; F4=factor 4: interpersonal skills |
Requirement of labor competencies
The competences with the highest job requirements were related to the ability to apply knowledge in practice (3.25); to social and civic commitments (3.28); ability to identify, plan, and solve problems (3.25); decision-making ability (3.26); and to ability to work in teams and commitment to quality (3.22). On the contrary, among competences with the lowest requirement score were ability to communicate in a second language (2.34); skills in the use of information and communication technologies (2.89); research skills (2.62); ability to motivate and lead an objective toward common goals (2.94); abilities in international contexts (2.96) and in formulation and management of projects (2.86) (Table II).
Relationship between demands in the workplace and development of labor competencies
There was no correlation between the labor requirement and the development of research skills (p>0.05), while a positive correlation was identified with development of other labor capacities:
Table III. Correlation between the demands of the work environment and the development of labor competencies in the university (n=73) | |||
Requirements in the workplace | Factor | Development of competences in the university |
|
rp | p | ||
Abstraction, analysis, and synthesis abilities | F1 | 0.48 | 0.000 |
Ability to apply knowledge in practice | F1 | 0.73 | 0.000 |
Ability to organize and plan time | F4 | 0.59 | 0.000 |
Knowledge of the area of study and the profession | F1 | 0.50 | 0.000 |
Social and civic responsibility | F2 | 0.73 | 0.000 |
Oral and written communication skills | F1 | 0.54 | 0.000 |
Second language communication skills | F3 | 0.30 | 0.025 |
Information and communication technology skills | F3 | 0.55 | 0.000 |
Research skills | F1 | 0.14 | 0.314 |
Ability to learn and update permanently | F1 | 0.63 | 0.000 |
Abilities to search, process, and analyze information from various sources | F1 | 0.33 | 0.014 |
Ability to self-criticize | F1 | 0.39 | 0.004 |
Ability to act in new situations | F4 | 0.70 | 0.000 |
Creative Ability | F4 | 0.41 | 0.000 |
Ability to identify, plan, and resolve problemas | F1 | 0.65 | 0.000 |
Ability to make decisions | F4 | 0.68 | 0.000 |
Teamwork ability | F4 | 0.84 | 0.000 |
Interpersonal ability | F4 | 0.70 | 0.000 |
Ability to motivate and lead to common goals | F4 | 0.65 | 0.000 |
Commitment to preserving the environment | F2 | 0.65 | 0.000 |
Commitment to socio-cultural environment | F2 | 0.50 | 0.000 |
Value and respect for diversity and multiculturalism | F2 | 0.55 | 0.000 |
Ability to work in internacional contexts | F3 | 0.34 | 0.015 |
Ability to work autonomously | F4 | 0.58 | 0.000 |
Ability to formulate and manage projects | F4 | 0.30 | 0.030 |
Ethical commitment | F2 | 0.91 | 0.000 |
Commitment to quality | F4 | 0.91 | 0.000 |
Scale from 1 to 4=the highest score means greater requirement and competence development; DE=standard deviation F1=factor 1: learning process; F2=factor 2: social values; F3=factor 3: technological and international context; F4=factor 4: interpersonal skills |
Analysis of the Tuning Project Factors
When analyzing the four main components, the development of labor capacities in the university is found to be greater than the exigency in the labor scope. The differences found between the two scores is greater for interpersonal skills (0.67) and learning process (0.55), and lower for social values (0.25) and technological and international context (0.34), respectively (Table IV).
Table IV. Average score on the competence factors of the Tuning project (n=73) |
||
Factor | Requirements in the workplace (Mean±DE) |
Development of competency in the university (Mean±DE) |
Learning process | 27.55±6.71 | 28.10±7.95 |
Social values | 15.87±3.84 | 16.12±3.79 |
Technological and international context | 8.26±2.17 | 8.60±2.01 |
Interpersonal abilities | 30.93±8.69 | 31.60±9.04 |
The exiting students of the undergraduate nursing degree were prominently female,12-16 although in recent years there has been an increase in admission of male students to this degree program.17 Similarities were also found with alumni of higher education institutions in terms of average age and marital status, since more than half are single.12,13,17
The monthly income reported coincided with the average monetary income of nurses in Mexico in the period from 2005 to 2008 (2005=$6474; 2006=$7156; 2007=$7625; 2008=$8012), but not for those who received $11,000 or more.18
Although the economic income of the nursing professional in Mexico has increased considerably in recent years (from $3000 pesos in 1996,17 to $8818 pesos in 2015),19 the conditions of remuneration in the labor field have not correlated with the level of responsibility,20 so from the nursing schools, students look for alternative access to other careers once they finish undergraduate education.
Regarding the analysis of the score that a group of European nurses awarded to the general competences of the Tuning project,6 the following capacities were considered relevant: applying knowledge in practice; identifying, planning, and solving problems; teamwork; abstraction, analysis and synthesis; and decision-making.6 They considered less relevant: ability to work in international contexts; the ability to communicate in second language; the ability to formulate and manage projects; information and communication technology skills; research capacity; and ability to motivate and lead toward common goals.6
These results on the relevance of competences that should be developed according to the European nurses correspond in a similar way to those in the present study, since the six competences of both groups had a very similar requirement or development qualification: only 10 in 27 obtained a lower score in development with respect to the labor requirement of the competency, specifically in the ability to apply knowledge in practice; abilities related to social and civic responsibility; oral and written communication; acting in new situations; creativity; identifying, planning; and solving problems; decision-making; teamwork; valuing and respect for diversity and multiculturalism; in addition to commitment to quality. Competences that were rated lower regarding their development and the requirement were communication in a second language; information and communication technology skills; and ability to work in international contexts.
The correlation between the development of generic competences of the Tuning project and their requirement in the workplace showed a positive relationship in all the competences, that is to say, as the score for competency development increased, the score for its requirement in the workplace increased. Generic competences with strong correlation were ethical commitment, commitment to quality, and teamwork. The other competences showed moderate correlation, and in requirement for research ability, there was no correlation.21
In this first approach, which analyzed the relationship between the development of generic labor competencies in the educational field and the requirement in the labor field, it is relevant to comment that public and private health institutions do not request scientific research competence.
However, in the present study, more than a third of graduates reported carrying out research activities. In a study of 111 nursing professionals from public and private institutions in Chile,22 clinical nurses rated the development of research capacity as very important, in contrast to supervisory nurses and nursing students. It should be noted that not the study was limited by being able to establish the differences between the scores or the internal validity of the instrument (0.90), as it contrasts with the methodological basis of its construction and reliability of the data.
At present, there is little research literature about the relationship of generic competency development in Mexican nurses. As such, the comparing results can be complex for the following reasons: