Development and validation of the critical care practical competency scale for clinical nurses

OBJECTIVE: To develop a Critical Care Practical Competency Scale (CCPCS) for clinical nurses, and to assess its reliability and validity. METHODS: The scale was developed through a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and Delphi expert consultation. A convenience sampling method was employed to survey in-service clinical nurses from three tertiary Class A general hospitals in Anhui Province, followed by an item analysis and assessment of the scale’s reliability and validity. RESULTS: The CCPCS for nurses comprised 3 dimensions and 22 items. The Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.97, the partial coefficient was 0.91, and the retest reliability coefficient was 0.85. The Scale-Level Content Validity Index/Average (S-CVI/AVE) was 0.98, Scale-Content Validity Index/Universal Agreement (S-CVI/UA) was 0.93, with the Item-Level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) ranging from 0.83 to 1.00. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three common factors, explaining a cumulative variance contribution rate of 73.21%. CONCLUSION: The CCPCS for nurses exhibited robust reliability and validity, laying a foundational basis for training and assessing critical care nursing skills.