Instruments assessing nurse educator's competence: A scoping review

Abstract

Aim The aim of this review was to synthesize the instruments that assess nurse educators' competence. Design A scoping review was conducted with the five‐stage process informed by Arksey and O'Malley. Review Methods The predetermined search strategy was used including an additional hand search. The studies were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria to answer the research questions followed: (1) “What instruments are used to assess nurse educators' competence?”, (2) “How are the psychometric properties of nurse educators' competence instruments reported in the literature?”. The thematic synthesis was used. Data Sources The literature search was conducted in January 2021 using the CINAHL, MEDLINE and ERIC databases from January 2000 to December 2020. Results Of the 1,567 articles searched through, 25 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 19 instruments with 10 areas of competence were identified. Typical competence areas were pedagogical and nursing competence. In addition, leadership in managerial competence was included in several instruments. However, the theoretical backgrounds of the instruments varied and the psychometric properties were reported in varied ways in reviewed studies. Implications for the Profession This study provides evidence about the valid and comprehensive assessment of nurse educators' competence, as competent nurse educators promote excellence in nursing education. To assess a nurse educators' competence comprehensively, a variety of theoretical backgrounds of this competence and more than one instrument for the measurement need to be considered. The selection of the instruments to assess nurse educators' competence should be based on the selected theoretical background and use of valid measurements. Reporting Method This study was reported by following the reporting recommendations of the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA‐ScR). Patient or Public Contribution No Patient or Public Contribution was applied, since research design was a scoping review.

Nurse educator competence in four European countries—A comparative cross‐sectional study

“…Additionally, it was deemed important that the data were collected from all of the target populations using the same instrument in order to obtain comparable data. This instrument was the only one that has been used for the self‐evaluation of academic nurse educators, student nurses and heads of a nursing subject (Lemetti et al., 2022 ; Salminen et al., 2013 ). Compared with other instruments, ERNT was deemed the most practical for collecting data from students, as the concepts used in the instrument are tangible and close to students' reality (Salminen et al., 2013 ).…”

“…Professional competence in nursing is vital for nurse educators to educate the future generations of competent nurses. It is one of the core competences for nurse educators (Mikkonen et al., 2018 ; World Health Organization, 2016 ) and along with pedagogical competence, it is the most often reported competence of nurse educators (Lemetti et al., 2022 ). Nurse educators are expected to obtain the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes required to educate nurses on the needs in a constantly developing field of health care (Mikkonen et al., 2018 ; Salminen et al., 2013 ; Zlatanovic et al., 2017 ).…”

“…Nurse educators' competence has been evaluated by different professionals, including nurse educators themselves, nursing faculty, nursing administrators, experts in nursing education, student nurses, nurse mentors and heads of a nursing subject (Lemetti et al., 2022 ; Mikkonen et al., 2018 ;Ozga et al., 2021 ; Salminen et al., 2013 ). There are only a few comparative studies, but in those that are available, the competence of educators varies across the contexts studied (Ozga et al., 2021 ; Salminen et al., 2013 ).…”