Content area
Aims
To examine research trends on strengthening political competency among nurses and nursing students by mapping key concepts and exploring enhancement strategies.
Background
Political competency is essential for nurses to influence healthcare policies and advocate systemic change. However, research on nursing education and practice remains fragmented, highlighting the need for a more cohesive understanding.
Design
A scoping review methodology was used to map existing literature.
Methods
This scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between January 1, 2000 and December 10, 2024, focusing on political competency among nursing students and nurses.
Results
Among the 32 studies analyzed, political participation emerged as the most frequently examined concept, identified in 12 studies. In contrast, political interaction, including networking, negotiation and persuasion, was not addressed in any of the reviewed studies. Educational interventions such as lectures, policy analysis, advocacy training and experiential learning were commonly employed to enhance political competency. However, the literature revealed a lack of a unified conceptual framework and validated instruments.
Conclusion
To enhance nurses’ long-term involvement in policymaking, nursing education should incorporate structured and comprehensive political competency training that includes policy literacy, political interaction skills and leadership development. Clearly defining political competency and establishing evaluation systems will support level-specific learning and strengthen nurses’ policy engagement. These findings highlight the need for collaborative efforts between nursing education institutions, professional associations and policymakers to ensure accessibility, consistency and real-world applicability of political competency education in both academic and clinical settings.
Details
Literature Reviews;
Questionnaires;
Experiential Learning;
Nursing Education;
Researchers;
Journal Articles;
Leadership Role;
Information Seeking;
Database Management Systems;
Learner Engagement;
Political Influences;
Competence;
Nurses;
Organizational Change;
Nursing Students;
Meta Analysis;
Educational Change;
Databases;
Search Strategies;
Advocacy;
Computer Software Reviews;
Citation Indexes;
Educational Trends;
Definitions
Databases;
Health care policy;
Policy making;
Mapping;
Medical education;
Professional practice;
Political participation;
Experiential learning;
Policy analysis;
Professional associations;
Advocacy;
Frame analysis;
Networking;
Software;
Nursing education;
Competency based learning;
Trends;
Leadership;
Nursing;
Political science;
Nurses;
Access;
Lectures;
Literature reviews;
Professional development;
Education;
Politics;
Education policy;
Medical personnel;
Competence;
Training;
Literacy;
Cooperative learning;
Health services;
Persuasion;
Influence
; Kim, Jeonghyun 2
; Lee, Minjae 1
; Shin, Sujin 1
1 College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
2 College of Nursing, Catholic University of Pusan, 57 Oryundae-ro, Geumjeong-gu, Busan 46252, Republic of Korea