Designing a national model for assessment of nursing informatics competency

BACKGROUND: Due to the need for informatics competencies in the field of nursing, the present study was conducted to design a psychometric instrument to determine the qualification of informatics competencies of employed nurses in educational care centers. METHODS: The questionnaire was made by reviewing existing scientific resources and assessment tools. Two hundred nurses were selected using simple random sampling. Structural equation modeling was used using the measurement model technique and the average variance was calculated. Linear structural relations (LISREL) software was used to test the assumptions and correlations of the model. RESULTS: Findings showed relatively good estimation in the fit of first-order measurement model. The informatics knowledge subscale with a determining rate of 0.90 had the greatest explanatory effect among the subscales and informatics skill with a determining rate of 0.67 and basic computer skill with a determining rate of 0.60 were observed. The second-order measurement model of fitness indicators showed that the three factors can well explain the multidimensional construct of informatics competency. CONCLUSIONS: The designed tool can be used to develop educational strategies in relation to nursing students in the field of informatics and prepare them in the rich environment of information technology, which can be helpful in training nursing instructors.