Jan Nilsson, Professor of Nursing

Born in Östersund, Jan Nilsson is a qualified nurse who has worked in emergency care. After moving to Stockholm, he studied to become a nursing teacher and worked for a while at what was then known as the Swedish Rescue Services Agency, where he taught Emergency Care and Disaster Medicine. After that, he worked internationally for about ten years, with public health and disaster management in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He completed his doctoral studentship in Geriatric Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet in 2005, with a thesis on health-related quality of life among the elderly in the rural areas of Bangladesh.

Since being hired by Karlstad University in 2011, Jan Nilsson has conducted research while also teaching courses within both the Study Programme in Nursing and the Study Programme for Specialist Nursing in Prehospital Nursing. In 2016, he was appointed docent and in January of 2021 he was promoted to professor of Nursing.

"My research is about professional competencies in close relation to nursing education. I am heading a national research group, The Nurse Professional Competence, NPC. We have developed tools for measuring professional competence among both nursing students and practising nurses. These tools have received a lot of attention internationally, and they are currently used on a global scale by nursing researchers, in order to gain knowledge about professional competency. Through the doctoral students I supervise, these competency issues are also examined by using different didactic perspectives. In this field, there is a lack of knowledge regarding professional competence among both students and practising nurses."

Professional nursing competence is an internationally important quality standard. Improvements can come about through life-long learning in both students and practising nurses all over the world.

"I have further developed my international network through my research and by participating in international conferences. I am a member of the European Network Nursing Academies, ENNA, and the global organisation Sigma Theta Tau, which is working to promote knowledge, teaching and learning among nurses, through education and research. I am also privileged to lead a big capacity-developing project within the framework of Erasmus+, which aims to contribute to the continual professional development of nursing teachers in Indonesia. My future research will be flexible and perceptive. Today’s society is constantly changing and it is important to identify the needs and contribute with competence that cover those needs."

Jan Nilsson’s big interest in gardening, animals and nature provide him with plenty of relaxing and energising activities outside of work. He enjoys kayaking in the summertime, while ski touring in Lapplandsfjällen is a highlight during the winter.