The gerontological nurse specialist's core competencies in China: A cross-sectional study.

The average core competency score of the gerontological nurse specialists was 3.78, in the middle level(3.30-4.17/5.00). Core competency was associated with gerontological nurse specialists' age (p = .005), professional title (p = .017), hospital level (p = .006) and passion for geriatric nursing (p = .000). The average scores of attitude, skill and knowledge were 4.45, 4.02 and 4.18, respectively. All first-level domains were related to age (p ≤ .021) and passion for geriatric nursing (p ≤ .008); knowledge and skill were associated with professional title (p ≤ .045) and attitude and skill were associated with hospital level (p ≤ .020).