Construction of an index system of core competence assessment for infectious disease specialist nurse in China: a Delphi study

AIM AND OBJECTIVE: This study was to establish an index system for the evaluation of Chinese infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence. BACKGROUND: The index system for the evaluation of infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence has not been established. DESIGN: A two-round Delphi survey was conducted to seek opinions from experts about the index system for the evaluation of infectious disease specialist nurses’ core competence. METHODS: The study adopted several research methods, including literature retrieval, theoretical analysis and qualitative research. Based on the above method, the draft of core competence evaluation index system of infectious disease specialist nurses was constructed. A Delphi survey was used for the study of 30 infectious disease experts from 8 provinces and cities around China. A modified recommendation for the Conducting and Reporting of Delphi studies (CREDES) was also used to guide this study. A STROBE checklist was used. RESULTS: The Core Competence Evaluation Index System of Infectious Disease Nurses is composed of 6 primary indicators, namely, Nursing Abilities for Infectious Diseases, Infection Prevention and Control Abilities, Responsiveness to Infectious Diseases, Professional Development Abilities, Communication and Management Abilities, and Professionalism and Humanistic Accomplishment, 16 secondary indicators and 47 tertiary indicators. The authority coefficient, judgment coefficient and familiarity degree of Delphi experts were 0.923, 0.933 and 0.913 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation index system of core competence of diseases specialist nurses is scientific and reliable. It can be reference for future training and assessment of Chinese infectious disease specialist nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Infectious disease specialist nurses are the main force for infectious disease nursing. Their core competence is related to the quality of infectious disease nursing and treatment. The core competence of the nurses is important for identification of training strategies and can be regarded as reference for nurse assessment and promotion. The construction of the index system is based on the consensus of infectious disease experts, which is not only helpful to standardize the training strategies and selection standards of infectious disease specialist nurses in the future, but also meet the society’s needs in clinical infectious disease nursing.