Psychometric properties of the Australian nurse competency 2000 standards.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The Australian Nursing Competency Incorporated (ANCI) 2000 standards provide a standardised framework of accepted professional standards for the registered nurse. AIM: The study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the ANCI 2000 national competency standards for measuring nursing competence in new graduate nurses. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: One hundred and sixteen new graduated nurses from three metropolitan public hospitals were surveyed. The psychometric properties of the ANCI 2000 including internal consistency and construct validity were examined. RESULTS: The mean score was lowest for competency unit 6 (mean 5.96) and highest for competency unit 4 (mean 8.83). The internal reliability for the total ANCI 2000 was alpha=.93 and for the domain alpha=.81 (Domains 1 and 3), alpha=.79 (Domain 2), and alpha=.77 (Domain 4). Confirmatory factor analysis using the domains as factors confirmed the 4 factor structure although 3 factors had two items each with loadings in the .4-.5 range. CONCLUSIONS: There are inconsistencies in the psychometric properties of the ANCI 2000 which suggest that further investigation is warranted before it can be used as an instrument for the measurement of new graduate competencies.