Background and Objectives: Nurses are integral to healthcare delivery, playing a critical role in ensuring patient safety and quality of care, as well as improving clinical outcomes and patient experience. Nursing competency encompasses the integration of knowledge, technical skills, professional attitudes, and clinical decision-making in complex practice settings. Furthermore, the evaluation of intervention outcomes is essential to generate evidence for optimizing care quality and treatment effectiveness. This study aimed to assess clinical nursing competency at the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology Ho Chi Minh City in 2026.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 273 clinical nurses at the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology Ho Chi Minh City.
Results: The mean clinical nursing competency score was 3.65 ± 0.22, with 76.56% of participants meeting the competency threshold. Competency was highest in the domain of legal and ethical practice and lowest in education, research, and evidence-based practice. Educational level was significantly associated with clinical nursing competency (OR = 3.16; p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Clinical nursing competency was generally sufficient to meet practice requirements, with notable strengths in legal and ethical domains but limitations in education, research, and evidence-based practice. While technical competencies were relatively well-developed, soft skills such as communication and health education remained suboptimal. Educational level was significantly associated with competency, underscoring the need for targeted strategies to enhance nursing workforce capacity.