Assessing Emergency Nurses' Clinical Competency: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Study

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Clinical Competency Assessment

Background:

• Emergency wards require continuous assessment of clinical competency indicators.
• Lack of clear standards challenges the evaluation of nursing competency.
• This study addresses the need for defined competency indicators in emergency nursing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine and prioritize clinical competency indicators for nurses in emergency settings.
• To gather nurses' perspectives on essential competencies in educational and therapeutic centers.
• To establish a basis for evaluating clinical competence in emergency nursing practice.

Main Methods:

• Employed Q methodology across three phases: indicator determination, expert panel classification, and prioritization.
• Convenience sampling included nurses from emergency wards of teaching hospitals in Guilan.
• Exploratory factor analysis was used to prioritize clinical competency indicators.

Main Results:

• Identified 30 general competencies across communication, professional maturity, and personality domains (5 factors).
• Identified 37 specific competencies within scientific/technical capabilities and basic clinical skills domains (6 factors).
• Developed a structured instrument for assessing clinical competence in emergency nurses.

Conclusions:

• The identified competencies serve as a reference for emergency nursing education and practice.
• Highlights the need for further research to develop reliable and valid assessment instruments.
• Emphasizes the importance of structured evaluation for enhancing emergency nursing quality.