Self-assessment competency tool for nurses working in critical care units: development and psychometric evaluation

Abstract

Aim: this study aimed to develop a self-assessment competency tool for nurses working in critical care units, and to test its validity and reliability. Methods: Design: This methodological research for development of a tool include an experts group consisted of 41 senior registered nurses and senior physicians working in critical care units, jury group from academia included 11 professors in field of specialty, a purposive sample of 50 nurses working in critical care units Data collection took place in June 2009 to September 2010 through a semi-structured questionnaire, a preliminary nursing competency list with initial 130 items pool through expert and jury opinionnaires, finally 79-item tool of clinical nurse competency was developed. Findings: Cronbach's α ranges from 0.81 to 0.96 for the new tool, with total internal consistency reaching α =0.98. Statistically significant positive moderate to strong correlations among the various components of the tool, statistically significant positive correlations with almost all the new tool dimensions and the standardized tool ranging between 0.256 and 0.725. statistically significant positive correlation between the two scores, with a correlation coefficient r = 0.44.conclusion: a self-assessment competency tool for nurses working in critical care units was developed with a high level of reliability; its content validity was demonstrated, concurrent validity was borderline acceptable. Further improvement of the developed tool is recommended through including a variety of participants, both as experts and juries, and taking a more representative sample. Also, application of the tool in a variety of similar settings would offer data that can help in improving its psychometric characteristics. Moreover, periodic evaluation of nurses' competency can provide longitudinal data that may help in assessing the new tool's predictive validity.