Introduction:

The competences acquired and developed by nurses who manage direct care in adult intensive care units are an essential factor to guarantee safe and quality care. The level of expertise required must be directed by a specific profile or map of competences.

Objective:

To determine the competences of nurses for direct care management in an adult intensive care unit.

Methods:

Integrative literature review. Fourteen articles with a qualitative and quantitative approach published between 2000 and 2017, found in the databases Ovid-Nursing, Global Health-Ovid, MEDLINE, Web of Science, SCIELO, SCOPUS, Science Direct, and EBSCO were analyzed. The critical reading of these was carried out using CASPe, STROBE Statement and Joanna Briggs Institute. The level of evidence and degree of recommendation were determined using the CEBM tool. From common findings, the categories were determined.

Conclusions:

Nursing clinical judgment is the core competence for direct care management in intensive care units because it allows the nurse to make decisions in changing situations based on critical thinking and clinical reasoning for problem solving, prioritization and achieving health outcomes.

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