Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Professional Competencies Scale: Development, Validity, and Reliability


Creative Commons License

Özcan Ş., Eroğlu K., Harmanci Seren A. K., Baykal Ü., GÖLBAŞI Z., Hotun Şahin N., ...Daha Fazla

Journal of Nursology, cilt.29, sa.3, ss.241-253, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 29 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.17049/jnursology.1707364
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Nursology
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.241-253
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Nursing Education, Professional Competency, Reliability, Scale Development, Validity
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Lokman Hekim Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objective: To develop and test the validity and reliability of the "Undergraduate Nursing Students' Professional Competencies Scale. Methods: A 59-item pool was developed from the literature on nursing students' competencies and education standards and reviewed by 26 nursing education experts. The item-content validity ratio was calculated using the "Lawshe Technique". Face validity was performed through a pilot study with 10 final-year nursing students. Following expert feedback, one item was removed and four were added, resulting ina 62-item draft scale. The scale was administered online to 320 fourth-year nursing students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA), along with reliability testing, were conducted. Reporting followed the STROBE checklist. Results: Expert panel members scored an initial item pool with 59 items. One item with a low content validity ratio was removed, and four items were added to the questionnaire. The draft tool consisted of 62 items. The item-total correlation value of each item was adequate. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett's sphericity tests showed that the sample size was sufficient. EFA removed 12 items with low factor loadings, leaving 50 items across five factors: management and organization (20), nursing care (12), research (8), communication and collaboration (6), and leadership (4). The CFA confirmed this five-factor structure with the applicable chi-square/degrees-of-freedom value, fit indices, RMSEA and SRMR values. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.891 to 0.967 across the factors and was 0.976 for the overall scale. Conclusion: The scale was valid and reliable for evaluating professional competencies in nursing education. Further studies with larger samples are recommended.