AIMS

To describe the development and psychometric testing of the competency inventory for nurse managers across all levels in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND

The competency-based approach to develop nursing leadership and management competencies for the health care context is still insufficiently explored in terms of professional development in nursing administration.

METHODS

This study used mixed methods, including qualitative study for generating the preliminary inventory and a cross-sectional survey of 573 nurse managers for psychometric properties of the inventory.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis revealed four domains with 23 items that explained 58.21% of the overall variance. The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.93. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a well-fitting goodness-of-fit statistics. The construct validity was adequate, with an average variance extracted of 0.68 and composite reliability of 0.90.

CONCLUSIONS

Across different levels, nurse managers have 23 essential competencies. The competency inventory demonstrates adequate psychometric properties with good construct validity and internal consistency, thereby reliable and valid for guiding the competency development of nurse managers.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

The essential competencies of the inventory serve as a criterion-referenced measurement for competence proficiency in professional development of nursing administration and contribute to performance improvement of nurse managers in practice.