English abstract
Aim: The aim of the study was to examine (1) the perceptions on core competencies
of healthcare professionals working at clinical settings in Oman and (2) which demo graphic characteristics explain the overall core competency.
Design: A cross-sectional design.
Methods: Healthcare Professional Core Competency Instrument, consisting of 11
sub-scales with 81 items, was distributed to healthcare professionals (n = 1,543; 826
nurses and 717 physicians) who worked at primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare
institutions. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and linear regression were used for
data analysis.
Results: Altogether 1,078 healthcare professionals (628 nurses and 450 physicians) re sponded representing 70% overall response rate. Healthcare professionals perceived
their overall core competence as excellent, safety being the highest, and research
and evidence-based practice was the lowest. The multiple linear regression analysis
revealed that ethnicity, gender and years of working experience were the characters
that explained the overall core competence, where expatriate senior professionals
reported higher competency levels compared with counterparts.
