Competencies of the public health nurse in a frontier region: a scoping review

Abstract

Objective

To identify the scientific evidence on the specific competencies for the professional practice of public health nurses in a frontier region.

Methods

Scoping Review , according to Joanna Briggs Institute, through the guiding question: “What is the knowledge production about the competencies necessary for the professional practice of public health nurses in a frontier region?” Searches were conducted in five databases, with original English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French studies published or made available by June 2020, using the descriptors: nurse, competence, and border areas.

Results

Among the 941 studies found, 58 were selected for full-text reading, resulting in a final sample of eight studies from different countries: Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, and the United States of America. From the analysis of each study, five specific competencies of the public health nurse who works in frontier regions emerged, being Competence for: 1) Cultural approach; 2) Competence for integral and collective nursing care in a frontier region; 3) Policy for assistance in frontier communities; 4) Linguistic-communicative; 5) Transnational care.

Conclusion

The selected studies pointed out cultural and social competencies despite diversified frontier environments. The nurse’s role in a frontier region changes as modern society configures itself and reorients itself toward new identity possibilities. Such changes reflect the need for effective health care that promotes proximity to cultural differences.

Nurses; Professional competence; Public health; Border health; Border areas