Future personal attributes and job competencies needed by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), state hospital section, registered nurse managers: a Delphi study

The first purpose of this study was to describe and illustrate a modification of the Delphi technique that was designed to identify future personal attributes and job competencies needed to help update requirements for the year 2006 needed by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) nursing middle manager, the registered nurse manager, as perceived by the DSHS subject matter experts. The subject matter experts consisted of a group of registered nurses holding leadership positions in the DSHS, State Hospital Section. The second purpose was to determine a consensus of future personal attributes and job competencies developed from the responses of the DSHS subject matter experts. For the last purpose of this study, using the findings of the future personal attributes and job competencies identified through this study, DSHS would have a tool to develop a model to guide hiring decisions and initial training. Additionally, the hiring and initial training model could also serve to assist in developing a content model for future in-service and continuing education training. The modified Delphi technique used in this study was comparable to the complete Delphi technique in terms of approach, for example, using a sequence of rounds with chosen experts and objectives to predict future events and to arrive at consensus. For this study, the foremost modification of the Delphi technique consisted of beginning the process with a set of 28 thoroughly selected personal attributes and job competencies clusters that the panel could use as a guide for personal attributes and job competencies selection. These pre-selected personal attributes and job competencies clusters were drawn from various sources including related competency profiles, job descriptions, and synthesized reviews of the literature. The approach consisted of a 15-member expert panel of 10 nurse managers and 5 chief nurse executives currently working within and representing the 11 facilities of the DSHS, State Hospital Section. The panel members were nominated by the nursing director of the State Hospital Section of the Texas Department of State Health Services. The panel completed three rounds of the Delphi process, identifying 24 personal attributes and job competencies clusters.