• Yunsuk Jeon, Riitta Meretoja, Tero Vahlberg, and Helena Leino-Kilpi.
• Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
• J Eval Clin Pract. 2020 Jun 1; 26 (3): 866-878.

Rationale, Aims, And ObjectivesThe competence of nurses in anaesthesia care is important for the quality of anaesthesia nursing care and patient safety. However, there is a lack of psychometrically tested instruments to measure the competence. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and test the psychometric properties of an anaesthesia nursing competence scale (AnestComp) assessing nurses' competence in anaesthesia care.MethodThe scale development and psychometric testing had three phases: (1) based on literature reviews and the description of experts, competence areas were identified and items were created; (2) the content validity of the scale was tested by a content expert group, and the scale was pilot tested; and (3) psychometric testing of scale was tested by anaesthesia nurses' (n = 222) and nursing students' (n = 205) self-assessments. The psychometric testing assessed the reliability when using Cronbach's α and the construct validity using factor analyses (confirmatory and exploratory) and known-group technique. Nursing students were included for the purpose of construct validity testing.ResultsThe AnestComp has 39 items and consists of seven competence areas: (a) ethics of anaesthesia care, (b) patient's risk care, (c) patient engagement with technology, (d) collaboration within patient care, (e) anaesthesia patient care with medication, (f) peri-anaesthesia nursing intervention, and (g) knowledge of anaesthesia patient care. Cronbach's α values were high in all categories (0.83-0.95), and factor analyses and known-group technique supported a seven-factor model.ConclusionThe initial results supported the reliability and construct validity of the AnestComp. The scale is considered a promising instrument for measuring anaesthesia nursing competence among anaesthesia nurses. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is suggested to refine the current psychometric evaluation.© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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