Development of a Valid and Reliable Measure of Paediatric Intensive Care Nursing Knowledge And Skills

Workplace learning and staff development for nurses are crucial for ongoing competence improvements in the quality of patient care. In particular, graduate nurses in specialty areas present unique challenges for nurse educators when designing orientation programs, evaluating learning and facilitating initial competence development. Identifying the learning needs of employees and evaluating the results of staff development are therefore essential elements of any nursing practice environment. However, instruments to evaluate nursing knowledge and skills in the Australian and New Zealand paediatric intensive care environment have been lacking. The purpose of this study was to construct and test the psychometric properties of a paediatric intensive care nursing knowledge and skills test; a multiple choice test for measuring the key nursing knowledge and skills required for safe, competent practice in Australia and New Zealand.