The development of the Postdoctoral Nurses Competence Scale: A Delphi consensus and content validity study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Professional Development

Background:

• PhD-prepared nurses are crucial for advancing nursing science through research and practice integration.
• Success in research, education, and clinical practice necessitates specific professional competencies.
• Assessing these competencies can foster professional growth and career development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To achieve consensus on essential professional competencies for PhD-prepared nurses.
• To develop and evaluate an instrument for measuring these competencies.
• To assess the content validity of the developed instrument.

Main Methods:

• A Delphi consensus study utilizing online questionnaires with international PhD-prepared nurse researchers.
• Competencies were assessed for relevance and agreement using Likert scales and open-ended questions.
• The Postdoctoral Nurses Competence Scale was developed and its content validity was evaluated.

Main Results:

• Consensus was achieved on 13 professional competencies after two rounds of the Delphi study.
• The developed 13-item Postdoctoral Nurses Competence Scale demonstrated a content validity index of 0.91.
• Initial rounds showed varying levels of importance attributed to competencies by participants.

Conclusions:

• A consensus was reached on most professional competencies for PhD-prepared nurses.
• The 13-item Postdoctoral Nurses Competence Scale exhibits excellent content validity.
• Further research is recommended to assess additional clinimetric properties before widespread use.