Nursing competence in CRRT: creation and validation of a measurement tool.

Abstract

BACKGROUND Acute Renal Failure is an essential condition frequently encountered in intensive care units and requires targeted treatment. The nursing team must be adequately trained in the management of the patient undergoing CRRT. AIM To build and validate the CRRT-MCT (Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy -Measurement Competency Tool), which aims to measure nursing competence in managing patients undergoing renal replacement techniques. METHODS The most current guidelines for CRRT techniques were used to create an instrument to measure nursing competence. A pool of 10 experts evaluated this instrument. The pilot study examined content and face validity. Test-retest reliability with r-Person correlation and internal consistency reliability with Crombach's was assessed. RESULTS The CRRT-MCT achieved good content and face validity (S-CVI= 0.96; I-CVI=70%-100%), good internal consistency reliability (Crombach's = 0.83). Two hundred and forty nurses employed in intensive care units did pilot testing and test-retesting. The t-test showed no significant difference between test and retest results, confirming the stability of the tool (Pearson's r = 0.984) CONCLUSIONS: The instrument assesses nursing competence concerning CRRT techniques in the ICU and is valid, reliable and understandable. NURSING IMPLICATION The creation and validation of this tool enables nurses to understand their level of competence for the care of patients undergoing CRRT with the ultimate aim of becoming aware of their gaps and undertaking training to fill them to provide the best possible nursing care.