core competencies in operating room nurses: a cross-sectional correlation study of Latent profile analysis and job Remodeling

Background Faced with changing demographics and increasingly complex healthcare needs, China's nursing industry is working hard to address labor shortages and improve core capabilities. To address the nursing crisis, it is imperative to understand the factors that influence nursing capacity. However, existing research has not explored the underlying characteristics of this group's core competencies, which limits the precise targeting of interventions. Objectives To identify potential heterogeneous categories of core competencies of Chinese operating room nurses, analyze their influencing factors, and further explore the relationship between different competency categories and Job Remodeling behaviors. Methods From March to April 2024, a survey was conducted on 13 tertiary grade A hospitals in the southwestern region of China regarding the operating room nurses. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, the Chinese Registered Nurse Core Competence Scale, and the Work Reshaping Scale. Latent profile analysis was employed to identify the potential categories of core competencies, Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the influencing factors, and variance analysis was applied to compare the differences in work reshaping among nurses in different categories. Results A total of 334 operating room nurses participated. The core competencies were classified into three categories: "Basic Group" (10.2%), "Advanced Group" (63.2%) and "Professional Group" (26.6%). Regression analysis indicated that educational level, technical title and years of work were the influencing factors of nurses' core competencies (P < 0.05). The level of work reconfiguration in the "Professional Group" was significantly higher than that of the other two groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion The core competencies of operating room nurses have obvious classification characteristics. Nursing managers should promptly identify and pay attention to the "basic group" and "advanced group" groups, and carry out targeted intervention to stabilize the nursing team and promote the development of nursing and medical care.