Psychometric testing of the nurse professional competence scale Arabic version: An exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.

AIM: To translate the Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form English version into Arabic and psychometrically validate its properties among Saudi citizen nurses. BACKGROUND: Evaluating nurses' professional competence is vital in delivering safe, cost-effective care and developing healthcare systems. However, psychometrically reliable and validated nurse competence scales in Arabic-speaking countries remain scant. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional design adhering to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. METHODS: Participant nurses (n = 598) were conveniently recruited from four government-owned hospitals and completed the Arabic-translated 35-item Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form. We used Spearman's rank-order correlation, exploratory factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test, and confirmatory factor analysis to analyze the data. RESULTS: After exploratory factor analysis and reliability analyses, several items of the Arabic-translated 35-item Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form were omitted due to high inter-item correlations and low factor loading difference. The Arabic version of the Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form was reduced to 21 items, consisting of a three-factor structure: Professional Care Pedagogics, Holistic Value-Based Care, and Direct Nursing Care. Results also demonstrated that the revised three-factor structure had good overall scale reliability, good subscale internal consistencies, and acceptable construct validity using the confirmatory factor analysis. CONCLUSION: The 21-item Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form Arabic version is a useful scale, having demonstrated construct validity and reliability. Therefore, nurse managers in Arabic-speaking nations could assess their nurses' professional competence using the 21-item Nurse Professional Competence Scale-Short Form Arabic version to develop proactive programs that enhance professional competence.

Nurses' professional values and competency in Saudi Arabia: A structural equation modelling approach.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship between Saudi nurses' professional values and competence. BACKGROUND: Professionals are bound by ethical standards specific to their profession. Accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant event that has impacted nurses' professional values and competency. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional design adhering to STROBE guidelines. METHODS: Clinical nurses from four tertiary government hospitals (n = 659) participated and completed two self-report instruments. Study variables were analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. RESULTS: The emerging model displayed acceptable model fit indices. Professionalism and activism were two dimensions of nurse professional values that significantly impacted professional competency. Professionalism significantly impacted the four other aspects of nurse professional values: caring, activism, trust, and justice. Caring had a significant and direct impact on activism. Activism had a weak, direct effect on trust, whereas justice had a moderate, direct effect on trust. Through the mediation of the dimension of activism, both the dimensions of professionalism and caring had a strong, indirect impact on professional competency. CONCLUSIONS: This research presents a structural model of the interrelationship between nurse professional values and competency. Nurse administrators can use the proposed model to develop approaches and policies for assessing, improving and evaluating professional values among nurses. RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nursing professionals are committed to upholding their ethical and moral standards while performing their caregiver roles. Nurse administrators can implement activities and strategies to develop nurses' professional competence further, as professional values represent the ideal values expected of nurses providing patient care.