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Cited by 24Delphi Technique in ResearchCompetency Development and EvaluationHealth Education and Validation

Construction of a competency evaluation index system for front-line nurses during the outbreak of major infectious diseases: a Delphi study

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Bai, Xue, Gan, Xiuni, Yang, Ruiqi, Zhang, Chuanlai, Luo, Xiaoqin, Luo, Chengqin, Chen, Senlin·2022·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0270902PMC PMC9249240
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Abstract

Introduction: As the frequency of infectious diseases rises, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to the competency level of front-line nurses as the primary force in front-line rescue, which has an impact on the quality of anti-epidemic response. This paper aims to construct the competency evaluation index system for front-line nurses during the outbreak of major infectious diseases. Materials and methods: This study combined literature review, critical incident technique interviews, and semi-structured in-depth interviews, as well as two rounds of Delphi expert correspondence, to construct a competence evaluation index system for front-line nurses during the outbreak of major infectious diseases. The study used purposive sampling to select 26 experts from 11 provinces and cities across China to conduct two rounds of Delphi expert consultation, and the indicators were selected based on the mean importance score > 3.5 and the coefficient of variation < 0.25, and the weights of the indicators were calculated by the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The effective recovery rates of the two rounds of correspondence questionnaires were 93.1% and 96%. Results: The effective recovery rates of the two rounds of correspondence questionnaires were 93.1% and 96%, the authority coefficients of experts were 0.96 and 0.98, the Kendall’s coordination coefficients of the first, second, and third level indexes were 0.281, 0.132, and 0.285 (P < 0.001), 0.259, 0.158, and 0.415 (P < 0.001). The final index system includes 4 primary indicators (Knowledge System of Infectious Diseases, Nursing Skills for Infectious Diseases, Related Professional Abilities for Infectious Diseases, and Comprehensive Quality), 10 secondary indicators, and 64 tertiary indicators. Conclusion: The competency evaluation index system of front-line nurses during the outbreak of major infectious diseases is scientific, reasonable, and practical, which can provide a scientific basis for nursing managers to accurately understand, describe, analyze, and evaluate the competence level of nursing staff and scientifically implement the allocation of human resources in the future, as well as serve as a content framework for subsequent training programs.

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  • Indicators with a mean importance score >3.5 and a CV ≥0.25 that were deemed important on the basis of clinical experience were modified and advanced to the next round of inquiry.

    “(2) indicators with a mean importance score >3.5 and a CV ≥0.25 that were deemed important on the basis of clinical experience were modified and advanced to the next round of inquiry;”

    From Construction of nursing-sensitive quality indicators for hemodialysis vascular access: a Delphi study (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

    The Materials and methods section (Data collection; page not provided) describes using a mean score >3.5 and a coefficient of variation <0.25 when discussing adjustments before the second round. The claim reverses the coefficient-of-variation threshold to ≥0.25. The passage also does not specify clinical experience as the reason for advancing such indicators. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Indicators with a mean importance score >3.5, a coefficient of variation <0.25, and a full-score rate >20% were retained.

    “(1) indicators with a mean importance score >3.5, a coefficient of variation (CV) < 0.25, and a full-score rate >20% were retained;”

    From Construction of nursing-sensitive quality indicators for hemodialysis vascular access: a Delphi study (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

    The Materials and methods section (Data collection; page unavailable) says the team adjusted indicators using a mean score >3.5 and coefficient of variation <0.25. Neither that section nor the additional passages retrieved from our copy state a full-score-rate threshold >20%, so the third criterion is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Prior to expert consultation, the research team established indicator screening criteria.

    “Prior to expert consultation, the research team established the following criteria for indicator screening (23, 24):”

    From Construction of nursing-sensitive quality indicators for hemodialysis vascular access: a Delphi study (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

  • Indicators with a mean importance score ≤ 3.5 were excluded.

    “(3) indicators with a mean importance score ≤ 3.5 were excluded.”

    From Construction of nursing-sensitive quality indicators for hemodialysis vascular access: a Delphi study (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bai, X., Gan, X., Yang, R., Zhang, C., Luo, X., Luo, C., & Chen, S.
Affiliations
  • Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CN)
  • Chongqing Medical University (CN)
Corresponding author
Gan, Xiuni
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2022-07-01
Volume
17
Issue
7
Pages
e0270902
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0270902
PMC
PMC9249240
OpenAlex
W4283748962
Cited by
24
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1
FWCI
7.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Chongqing Science and Health Joint Medical Research Project (2020FYYX011)
  • The Chinese Nursing Association’s 2020 Annual Project on Scientific Research (ZHKY202004)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Delphi Technique in Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Competency Development and Evaluation
  • Social Sciences › Education › Health Education and Validation
Keywords
nursing competencies, frontline nurses, infectious disease outbreaks, nursing skills, infectious disease knowledge, nursing human resource allocation, nursing staff training
MeSH terms
China, Communicable Diseases, Delphi Technique, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires

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