Ming Liu , Wipada Kunaiktikula, Wilawan Senaratanaa, Ouyporn Tonmukayakula, Lillian Eriksenb

Journal Information
International Journal of Nursing Studies 44 (2007) 805-813

Objective

Literature review indicated there is no existing nursing competency framework or instrument for Chinese registered nurses. By virtue of its global leadership role in nursing, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) developed an ICN Framework of Competencies for the Generalist Nurses in 2003. On the basis of the ICN's framework, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the expectations of Chinese nurse professionals on nursing competency in the previous study. A competency framework for Chinese registered nurses was formed. This paper describes the development and testing of the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurses (CIRN).

Methods

A methodological study design was used, consisting of two phases with six steps. A review of literature generated 112 items, which were evaluated by six experts followed by field testing in a purposive sample of 815 Chinese clinical registered nurses. Factor analysis and item analysis were applied to establish the scale's construct validity and reliability

Results

The final scale consists of seven dimensions with 58 items. The overall scale reliability had a Cronbach's a of 0.89; the dimensions Cronbach's a ranged from 0.79 to 0.86. In addition, evidence for two other kinds of validity was obtained, which included criterion-related validity (r = 0.44, p = 0.04) and contrasted-group validity (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The final scale consists of seven dimensions with 58 items. The overall scale reliability had a Cronbach's a of 0.89; the dimensions Cronbach’s a ranged from 0.79 to 0.86. In addition, evidence for two other kinds of validity was obtained, which included criterion-related validity (r = 0.44, p = 0.04) and contrasted-group validity (p<0.001).

Keywords
Nursing competency; Competency assessment; Validity; Reliability; Chinese nurse