A Closer Look at Joint Commission Nursing Care Center Standards:
HR.01.06.01 Staff are competent to perform their responsibilities.
Competencies are essential for nursing communities’ quality of care and safety. Staff need to be competent to perform their job responsibilities effectively. Ensuring staff members are competent in the area that they are providing care in is important for the safety and care of the residents, as well as the efficiency of the staff as a whole. Competencies should be reflective of the type of care, treatment, and services patients or residents require.
Competencies are a great way to inform the employer if employees are capable to perform their job duties by testing an individual’s ability, knowledge, and skills. Competencies should be completed upon hire for all nursing community employees and then once every 3 years or more frequently per community policy.
It is necessary that the individual who assesses the competence is “competent” in that area, meaning, he/she has the necessary educational background, experience, or knowledge related to the skills being tested.
Nursing communities who comply with the competency requirements will continue to notice positive outcomes for quality of care and safety in their communities.
Reference: The Joint Commission E-dition (jcrinc.com)
Sarah Ocasek, MA is a Senior Consultant at Achieve Accreditation. Achieve Accreditation has helped skilled nursing providers and assisted living organizations to obtain and maintain their Joint Commission Accreditation for over 30 years.