Development and Psychometric Testing of a Tool Measuring Nurses’ Competence for Disaster Response

Introduction: There is a growing awareness among governments, communities, and health care agencies of the need to evaluate roles and competencies in disaster nursing. A validated instrument was developed to evaluate nurses’ competencies for disaster response. Methods: A psychometric evaluation study was developed in 2 stages: 1) content and face validity, and 2) verification of feasibility and reliability with test-retest. Competencies were extracted from the Framework of Disaster Nursing Competencies published by the International Council of Nurses. The participants included 8 experts in emergencies and disasters who were nurses with a PhD and had more than 2 years of experience with education or clinical practice in emergencies or disasters, and 326 nurses from a mobile emergency care service in southern Brazil. The data analysis used a content validity index and intraclass correlation coefficients. The psychometric properties of the instrument included reliability assessed with Cronbach alpha, feasibility and test-retest reliability assessed with t tests and intraclass correlation coefficients, and factor analysis. Results: The overall evaluation of the instrument yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.92 (SD = 0.04), and the mean content validity index was acceptable at 0.88 (SD = 0.12). Out of 51 items, 41 were validated and organized in 3 domains according to factor analysis: 1) care of the community; 2) care of the individual and family; and 3) psychological support and care of vulnerable populations. The instrument demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.96) and adequate test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient >0.7). Discussion: The Nurses’ Disaster Response Competencies Assessment Questionnaire showed good internal consistency, adequate reproducibility, and appropriate feasibility for use to evaluate nurses’ competencies for disaster response.