Objective to evaluate the frequencies attributed to the professional competences of
hospital nurses, discussing the ones that obtained higher and lower
frequencies.Method descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study with 45 nurses of a
hospital of high complexity in the interior of São Paulo state. The study
used the Competences Evaluation Questionnaire, translated and validated in
Brazil, composed of 27 items in five domains: professionalism,
communication, management, nursing process and problem solving. Data were
analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results it was found that 80% of the participants were female and 20% were male. The
age ranged between 25 and 63 years, with an average of 40.02 years, and the
average length of professional experience was 13.39 years. The competences
“Communication with the hospital’s administrative staff” and “Participation
in scientific research and / or application of results” had the lowest
frequencies, while “Commitment to punctuality and workload” and “Commitment
to the ethical principles of the profession” were evaluated with the highest
frequencies.Conclusion evaluating the performance by competences becomes essential for managers and
training centers, since it contributes to the identification of gaps in
knowledge, skills and attitudes of professionals, by promoting the
elaboration and implementation of strategies for their development.