Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Intensive and Critical Care Nursing Competence Scale version-1 (ICCN-CS-1)

BACKGROUND: Nursing competence is highly related to patient outcomes and patient safety issues, especially in intensive care units. Competence assessment tools are needed specifically for intensive care nursing. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to determine psychometric properties of the Intensive and Critical Care Nursing Competence Scale version-1 between Iranian Nurses. METHODS: The present study was a methodological research in which 289 nurses of Intensive Care Units from nine hospitals in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran were selected between 2015 and 2016. The original version of the scale was translated into Persian and back-translated into English, and the comments of the developer were applied. The validity of the scale was the determined quality (content validity and face validity) and quantity (confirmatory factor analysis). Reliability of the scale was reported by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Intra class Correlation Coefficient. SPSS-PC (v.21) and LISREL (v.8.5) were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The intensive and critical care nursing competence scale version-1 is a self-assessment test that consists of 144 items and four domains which are the knowledge base, the skill base, the attitudes and values base and the experience base, which are divided into clinical competence and professional competence. Content and face validity was confirmed by 10 experts and 10 practitioner nurses in the intensive care units. In confirmatory factor analysis, all fitness indexes, except goodness of fit index (0.64), confirmed the four-factor structure of the ICCN-CS-1. The results of the factor analysis, load factor between 0.304 and 0.727 items was estimated; only 4 items out of 144 items, that were loaded were less than 0.3 due to high Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.984–0.986), all items were preserved, no item was removed and 4 subscales of the original scale were confirmed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that the Persian version of “The Intensive and Critical Care Nursing Competence Scale version-1” is a valid and reliable scale for the assessment of competency among Iranian nurses, and it can be used as a reliable scale in nursing management, education and research.