IJOMAHIP Published Article Details

Abstract Background: Medication administration is a high-risk nursing responsibility that requires professional competence, pharmacological knowledge, psychomotor skill, ethical accountability, communication, legal compliance, and clinical decision-making to ensure patient safety. Objective: This study determined the level of professional nursing competence and medication administration proficiency among staff nurses of St. Paul Surigao University Hospital and examined the relationship between these variables. Methods: A descriptive-correlational research design was used. The respondents were 42 staff nurses of St. Paul Surigao University Hospital. Professional nursing competence was assessed using domains of clinical care, ethical nursing practice, leadership and management, effective communication and collaboration, and legal nursing practice. Medication administration proficiency was measured in terms of knowledge, skills, and decision-making. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, weighted mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation, independent-samples t-test, and analysis of variance at the 0.05 level of significance. Results: The respondents were mostly young, female, Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates, and early-career nurses assigned equally to the second and third floor general areas. The nurses rated themselves highly competent in professional nursing competence (M = 3.68, SD = 0.33) and highly proficient in medication administration (M = 3.77, SD = 0.30). Professional nursing competence had significant positive relationships with medication administration knowledge (r = 0.894, p < .001), skills (r = 0.689, p < .001), decision-making (r = 0.790, p < .001), and overall medication administration proficiency (r = 0.865, p < .001). Age, sex, and area of assignment did not significantly differentiate competence and proficiency. However, years of experience significantly differentiated skills, decision-making, and overall medication administration proficiency. Conclusion: Professional nursing competence is a critical foundation of safe medication administration. The findings indicate the need for experience-sensitive mentoring, continuing education, medication audits, and simulation-based competency validation to strengthen medication safety and support institutional quality improvement. Keywords: Professional Nursing Competence, Medication Administration, Patient Safety, Clinical Decision-Making, Professional Nurse Competence Scale, Staff Nurses