| Summary: | M.Cur. === The intra-aortic balloon pump is a volume displacement device that is used to provide partial support to the left ventricle. The IABP is an effective and general used circulatory support device. The nursing of a patient on IABP therapy requires demonstration of specific clinical competence by the critical care nurse. Clinical competence is defined as the ability of the critical care nurse to integrate his/her knowledge, skills and values and to demonstrate it during nursing of a patient on IABP with the aim to promote the patient's health. The aim of this research had been to evaluate the clinical competence of the critical care nurse during the nursing of a patient on IABP, and to make recommendations according to that regarding education, the practice and research. The relationship between the components of clinical competence namely knowledge, skills and values that were set as aim, were also established. A quantitative, contextual, descriptive, correlational research design had been used in the study to compile a self-developed evaluation instrument that had been used to evaluate the clinical competence of the critical care nurse. The evaluation instrument consisted of a questionnaire that evaluated the knowledge of the critical care nurse, a check list that evaluated the skills of the critical care nurse and a semantic differential scale that evaluated the values of the critical care nurse during the nursing of a patient on IABP therapy. After the data was analyzed, it appeared that critical care nurses don't possess the necessary knowledge and skills to nurse patients on IABP, and as such are not clinically competent to nurse patients on IABP. iii Recommendations were made regarding education, the practice and research in order to improve the clinical competence of critical care nurses during the nursing of a patient on IABP therapy
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