Validating the Nurse Professional Competence Scale with Australian baccalaureate nursing students

ABSTRACT Background Professional competence is necessary to enhance patients' quality of care and safety, however not much is known about nursing students' perceptions of their professional competence at the point of graduation, particularly in the Australian context. Aim To validate the Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale in the Australian context and explore graduating nursing students' perceptions of their own competence and their suggestions to improve their learning experience. Method A cross-sectional survey incorporating the NPC Scale was conducted with nursing students at the point of graduation at one large Australian University. Results Fifty-six graduating nursing students completed the NPC Scale. Scale reliability measured via Cronbach's alpha was 0.96. Almost 80% of students felt confident with their nursing skills and felt that the nursing program had prepared them for a graduate position as a registered nurse. Students reported their highest competence was in Value-based Nursing Care (m = 89.4) and Documentation & Administration of Nursing Care (m = 86.7), and the lowest were Development, Leadership & Organisation of Nursing Care (m = 80.9) and Care Pedagogy (m = 83.0). Students' most common suggestion to improve the learning experience was to provide additional clinical workplace experience. Discussion The NPC Scale demonstrated excellent reliability in the Australian context. The areas that scored highest and lowest on the NPC were congruent with findings using this instrument in other countries. Conclusion Further validation of the NPC Scale should include a larger sample that includes both graduating nursing students from multiple universities as well as registered nurses and incorporates confirmatory factor analysis.