RESUMEN
AIM: To develop a bank of core clinical and performance skills to inform the future development of structured interview questions to aid the recruitment of nurses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). BACKGROUND: The UAE depends on expatriate nurses with variable clinical and educational backgrounds. Given the global shortage of nurses, the UAE requires innovative recruitment methods to attract and retain quality nurses and ensure high-quality health care services. METHOD: Three cycles of a virtual nominal group technique (NGT) were used to elicit consensus from thirty (n = 30) frontline nurses on the core clinical and performance skills needed to work in three specialty areas (paediatric, outpatient and telemetry/transitional care). RESULTS: Ten performance skills and ten clinical skills were identified for each specialty area. Performance skills included communication and critical thinking with key clinical skills being medication administration/use, cardiac monitoring troubleshooting and recognizing arrhythmias. CONCLUSION: The identified core performance and clinical nursing skills provide the basis for the future development of specialty-specific questions or scenarios to aid interviewers in achieving an informed selection process. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The identified core performance and clinical skills provide the foundations for an appropriate interviewing/selection process, staff orientation, staff appraisal and continuous professional development.