Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Slovenian version of the nurse professional competence scale

Abstract

Background The competency-based approach to the assessment of nursing practice has been adopted as a key policy in the developed world. The continual self-assessment of competence gives nurses the opportunity to reflect on their competencies and has a significant impact on the quality of nursing practice and patient safety. The study was designed to describe the process of cross-cultural adaptation and to assess the psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of a short form of the Nurse Professional Competence scale (NPC-SF) and to evaluate the efficacy of this instrument in a sample of registered nurses. Methods A cross-sectional and validation study was conducted in 425 registered nurses to test the psychometric properties of the Slovenian version of a short form of the scale and to evaluate nurses’ professional competence. A multilevel approach was used: Translation, back-translation, language validity, face and content validity, construct validity, and reliability of the Slovenian version of the scale were analysed respectively. Participants completed an online survey, with the data being collected between April and July 2020. Results Factor analysis showed that the Slovenian version of the scale could be used in four dimensions explained with 65 % of the variance. Cronbach’s α was 0.972. The four-factor model fit the data (RMSEA = 0.083, CFI = 0.731). Self-reported competence was high and rated higher by nurses employed at the tertiary level of healthcare, followed by nurses employed at the secondary and primary, and from social care institutions. Nurses with more years of experience assessed their competence higher. Conclusions The NPC-SF helps understand and identify nurses’ self-reported core competencies in clinical settings, thereby providing an important predictor of the professional development of nursing. The Slovenian version of the scale demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and may be used in research and clinical practice to evaluate nurses’ professional competence.

The moderating effect of burnout on professionalism, values and competence of nurses in Saudi Arabia amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic: A structural equation modelling approach

“…They accentuated that a dimension of the content structure of professional competence is the 'competency expected in practice', which involves the nurse's professional values of helping, teachingcoaching and work roles. It has also been shown that the different dimensions of nurse professional values-caring, activism, trust, professionalism and justice-are imperative in developing a nurse's professional competence, particularly those focused on clinical care(Prosen et al, 2021).Results also showed the moderate and positive influence of nurse professional values on nurse competence, a finding consistent with previous theoretical assertions. Nursing competency is the nurse's ability to effectively demonstrate attributes including personal characteristics, professional attitude, values, knowledge and skills to fulfil their professional responsibilities(Pueyo-Garrigues et al, 2022) Fukada (2018).…”

“…They accentuated that a dimension of the content structure of professional competence is the ‘competency expected in practice’, which involves the nurse's professional values of helping, teaching‐coaching and work roles. It has also been shown that the different dimensions of nurse professional values— caring, activism, trust, professionalism and justice— are imperative in developing a nurse's professional competence, particularly those focused on clinical care (Prosen et al, 2021 ).…”

Evaluation of Austrian nurses’ competence and factors related to it: An exploratory cross-sectional study

“…In general, nursing competence increased continuously in relation to the number of years in the nursing profession, which is also reflected in several international studies. [19,[66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73] The lowest levels of competence in four of the five scale factors were found in the group of newly graduated nurses with less than one year of professional experience. Although competence subsequently increased, the subgroup-specific differences within the first five years of professional experience were not significant in any of the scale factors.…”

“…[98] The calculated sample size might basically enable conclusions regarding the general population of RNs working in inpatient general wards, and the characteristics of our sample concerning the distribution of age, gender and experience in the profession adequately reflect the target population. [7] Nevertheless, nurses with formal further qualifications and specializations were overrepresented, [86] which could explain a potential influence on the relatively high ratings [73] on individual items in the total sample, especially as the respective subgroups showed a partly significantly higher competence; the actual ratings in the general population of RNs might hence be lower.…”

Psychometric evaluation of the Austrian version of the Nurse Professional Competence Scale Short Form (NPC–SF–AUT)

“…[32] The NPC Scale Short Form has so far been tested for its psychometric properties in several countries worldwide. The original six-factor structure of the original instrument was confirmed after factor analysis in three studies, [34][35][36] while Prosen et al [37] revealed a fourfactor structure after confirmatory factor analysis and Lee et al [? ] extracted five factors based on principal component analysis.…”