Introduction: The competence of healthcare providers is related to the high-quality implementation of nursing care in line with guidelines and standards. Clinical training is an important part of nursing education. Nursing graduates are expected to perform the activities of a registered nurse independently and responsibly. Purpose: The aim of the master thesis is to determine how students of the first-degree nursing study program self-assess their competence for professional activities of registered nurses. Methods: The study is based on a quantitative paradigm, using a cross-sectional research strategy. A structured questionnaire was developed on the basis of the professional activities of registered nurses defined in the document Professional competences and activities of health care. The sample was selected non-randomly and purposively. The normal distribution of the data was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which showed a statistically significant deviation from the normal distribution for most variables, so we tested the hypotheses with non-parametric tests. Results: We found out that the participating students of the first-degree nursing study program who were enrolled at the selected faculty in the study year 2022/2023 self-assessed their competence for carrying-out professional activities of registered nurses relatively well. On average, the participating nursing students have the highest self-assessed competence for professional activities in the areas of dressing and undressing, sleeping and resting, and maintaining a normal body temperature, while the lowest self-assessed competence emerged in the areas of work organization and development of the profession, quality and safety, and expression of spiritual needs. Students reported that they acquired most of their competence for carrying-out professional activities in the context of clinical training, and work through the student service, and less in the context of the faculty (lectures, seminars, and tutorials at the faculty). Discussion and conclusion: Assessing the competence of nursing students using clear professional standards is key to ensuring safe healthcare and their readiness to work in a clinical environment. With receiving feedback, the student has the opportunity for reflection and support during continuous learning process. Assessment of students' competencies during the educational process or at the end of the year allows monitoring of the student through clinical training and throughout the educational process, and could be the subject of further research in this area.
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