Background and purpose: One of the main goals of nursing education is training appropriate and efficient nurses. The purpose of this study was to discover the perceptions of nursing students and their teachers about professional competency of academic staff. Materials and methods: In this qualitative content-analysis approach study, the data were collected through unstructured in-depth interviews [30 individual and 1 focusing (Focus Group) interviews]. The participants were chosen using purposeful sampling from Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during July 2012 to June 2013. Formal or conventional qualitative content analysis was performed. Results: 11 categories and 4 themes were achieved. The themes included making the theoretical training efficient and useful (with 4 subthemes), gaining qualificative nursing science and skills (with 4 subthemes), making the clinical education efficient and effective for students (with 8 subthemes), and making the evaluation logical and objective (with 3 subthemes). Conclusion: This study found four basic themes of professional competency of academic staff and the indicators related to these features according to nursing students and their teachers' viewpoints. These findings can be used for designing evaluation and assessment tools for professional competency of academic staff.

Keywords: Competency training, faculty members, nursing, students, qualitative research, content analysis

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