Digital Competence Among Portuguese Nurses: Associations with Soft Skills
TL;DR
Assessment of digital competence among Portuguese nurses and its relationship with soft skills highlights the potential complementary role of technical competencies and soft skills in digital capability and suggests the value of further investigating targeted educational approaches.
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Digital transformation is a strategic priority for healthcare systems, requiring nurses to develop competencies that enable the safe, effective, and critical use of digital technologies in clinical practice. Understanding nurses’ digital competence profile is essential to inform leadership, education, and workforce development strategies. This study aimed to assess digital competence among Portuguese nurses, examine its relationship with soft skills, and identify priority areas for professional development. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional study was conducted with a nationally recruited convenience sample of Portuguese nurses. Data were collected using a Digital Competence Assessment Questionnaire based on the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) and Soft Skills Inventory. Associations between digital competence and soft skills were analysed using descriptive, inferential, and multivariable statistical methods with IBM SPSS Statistics version 30.0. Results: Based on the exploratory classification of the knowledge/performance score, 52.0% of participants fell within the Intermediate and 27.2% within the Advanced proficiency intervals. Adapting and Coping, Analyzing and Interpreting, and Interacting and Presenting were positively associated with self-reflected digital competence. Multivariable analysis showed that soft skills accounted for a larger proportion of variance in self-reflected digital competence than in the knowledge/performance test score; however, the explanatory value of the latter model was limited. Conclusions: Participants were predominantly classified within the Intermediate and Advanced proficiency intervals, although comparatively lower descriptive performance was observed in Safety. The findings highlight the potential complementary role of technical competencies and soft skills in digital capability and suggest the value of further investigating targeted educational approaches. These findings may inform nursing leadership, education, and workforce-development strategies aimed at supporting digital competence and sustainable digital transformation.