Shin, H., Jeon, H., Rim, D., Muratbekova, M., Zhamankulova, M., Kim, J., & Chun, H. (2022, July 21-25). Strategic planning for nursing policy improvement in Kyrgyz Republic: A delphi, global collaborative study [Oral presentation]. Sigma Theta Tau International 33th International Nursing Research, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Purpose:

In the Kyrgyz Republic, competence improvement of nurses is a major strategy to promote the level of national health status. However, due to the characteristics of the Kyrgyz society and nursing group, where the Soviet Union system remains, the ambiguity of nurses' professional identity, lack of competencies, backward nursing education became barriers. This study aims to create consensus of a strategic plan to establish effective policies for the advancement of nursing practice and education in the Kyrgyz Republic. This, in turn, provides an appropriate focus and direction for the goal with clear identification of current problems and the priorities of solutions.

Methods:

A delphi method was used to establish a consented strategic plan for the policy improvement of nursing practice and education in the Kyrgyz Republic. A Kyrgyz-Korean research team has performed this global collaborative study since May 2021, and the need assessment was conducted from September to November 2021. Seventeen expert panels for round 1 and 14 expert panels for round 2, including government officials in charge of nursing policy, faculties of nursing in colleges and universities, and representatives of associations for nurses and nursing education, involved through email or online individual meetings. The domains requiring improvement and strategies for policy development were derived from the responses of experts collected in first round, through qualitative content analysis. In second round, for those domains and strategies, the consensus achievement(defined as > 70% agreement) was identified and importance-urgency analysis was conducted.

Results:

Through the first round, 20 domains of demand for improvement were identified, and 14 policy development strategies were proposed. 90.0% (n=18) of the improvement-need areas reached consensus. Among them, low quality of nursing education, lack of nurses' competencies, short education period, and lack of practicum education showed high priorities on importance-urgency matrix. Of the policy development strategies, 90.0% (n=12)obtained consensus. Among them, the importance-emergency analysis showed improving the nursing education curriculum, introducing the bachelor's degree program, introducing the post-graduate degree program, strengthening faculties' competencies, and expanding educational resources should be prioritized.

Conclusion:

The Kyrgyz Republic has a high demand for effective policies to ensure the quality of nursing and train competent nurses to enhance national health status. These results provide a guidance for policy development of nursing practice and education, by focusing energy, resources, and time in consented and prioritized directions.