長期照護專業人員核心能力與培育

Developing the Core Competencies of Long-Term Care Professionals

隨著國民平均餘命增加，高齡化的變遷、國內長期照護的需求日益明顯，長期照顧十年計畫在需求評估機制、服務輸送及服務資源發展上至今已略具規模，惟人力資源培育尚未受到同等重視；本文藉由搜尋、分析、整理國外相關文獻探討專業人員的長期照護能力及培育策略。文獻呈現：老人照顧能力包括直接照顧以外還包括「溝通」、「評估」、「團隊合作」、「文化照護」以及「支持照顧者」等能力。至於對以失能人口群為照顧對象所需的「長期照護能力」，包括督導、管理、資訊、運用資源與組織運作等能力。在人才培育方面，美國、荷蘭、挪威及澳洲發展教學護理之家作為長期照護照顧能力之重要策略。護理作為長期照護專業中從業人數最多也最具影響力的專業之一，將「長期照護能力」做為培育的目標，發展以能力為基礎的教育訓練課程，運用積極有效的培育策略，護理專業在快速高齡化社會中，將更有能力回應長期照護需求。

Longer average life expectancies and an ageing society have made long-term care an urgent and important issue in Taiwan. Although the implementation of Long-Term Care Ten-year Project four years ago has begun showing success in terms of assessing Taiwan's needs in terms of long-term care services and resources, there has been little forward progress in terms of training, recruiting and maintaining more competent professionals in the long-term care sector. This paper explores the current state of long-term care competency in Taiwan and educational strategies in place to improve the competency of long-term care professionals. Results indicate that the term geriatric competency embraces sub-competencies in direct care, communication, assessment, teamwork, cultural sensitivities and career care competencies. The term long-term care competency embraces the sub-competencies of supervision, management, information technology, resource management, and organizational skill. As a main contributor to effective long-term care, the nursing profession must employ effective strategies to develop competency-based education. Also, the profession must have an adequate supply of competent manpower to effectively respond to Taiwan's aging society.