Development and Evaluation of a Nurse Competency Assessment System for Public Health Emergencies

This study aimed to construct a competency assessment system for nurses working in designated hospitals for public health emergencies, specifically major outbreaks of new respiratory infectious diseases, and to evaluate its usability in order to provide a standardized tool for assessing the skills of nurses caring for patients with such infectious diseases.

The competency assessment index system for nurses in designated hospitals was developed through literature analysis, behavioral interviews, and the Delphi expert consultation method. The weights of the indicators were calculated using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions. Subsequently, a satisfaction survey was conducted with 80 nurses from a designated hospital in Tianjin to evaluate the system's usability.

The effective response rates of the expert consultation questionnaires for two rounds were 95% and 100%, respectively. The expert authority coefficient was 0.902, and Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W) ranged between 0.135 and 0.198 (all p < 0.05), indicating significant agreement among experts. The final evaluation system included 4 first-level indicators, 13 second-level indicators, and 56 third-level indicators. Cronbach's alpha was 0.990, the S-CVI/Ave was 0.996, and the I-CVIs ranged from 0.900 to 1.000. The satisfaction score among nurses was 18.69 ± 1.19 points on a 20-point scale.

The competency assessment system for nurses in designated hospitals for PHEs developed in this study demonstrates strong scientific validity, reliability, and practical value. It provides a scientific basis for the selection, training, and assessment of nurses in designated hospitals for PHEs.