Development of a high-risk neonatal infection control competency scale

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Infection Control
• Neonatal Care

Background:

• Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) require stringent infection control measures.
• Assessing nurses' competency in infection control is crucial for preventing neonatal infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a scale measuring high-risk neonatal infection control competency among NICU nurses.
• To assess both performance and knowledge aspects of infection control.

Main Methods:

• A scale (HirNICCS) with performance (HirNICCS_P) and knowledge (HirNICCS_K) components was developed.
• Content validity, construct validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses), and internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha, Kuder-Richardson-20) were assessed.
• 251 NICU nurses from seven South Korean hospitals participated.

Main Results:

• The scale covers five factors: basic care, skin care, feeding management, medication/invasive procedures, and environment management.
• Total variance explained was 53.7% for HirNICCS_P.
• Reliability was high for HirNICCS_P (Cronbach's alpha = .95) and acceptable for HirNICCS_K (KR-20 = .67).

Conclusions:

• The developed HirNICCS scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing neonatal nurses' infection control competency.
• The scale can guide targeted infection control education for nurses with identified knowledge or performance deficits.
• Implementing this scale can enhance infection control practices and patient safety in NICUs.