A process model for developing content for certification programmes : the case of infection control nurses in Hong Kong

Abstract

A trend in nursing specialization over the world is for nurse specialists to be regulated by certification systems or other credentialing schemes. In Hong Kong, there is no certification system yet for regulating nursing specialist practice, including infection control nurses. Infection control practice, which is mainly concerned with combating hospital-acquired infection, is context-specific. There is a need in Hong Kong for a certification programme for infection control nurses. The content of this programme would need to be revised periodically, as practices change over time. The aim of this research is two-fold: to establish the content and content-weighting for a certification programme for infection control nurses in the current context of Hong Kong; and to build a process model that informs the development of a content blueprint of a certification programme for regulating the practice of a group of specialists. A three-phase research design was used. In Phase One, the content and rating scale of the survey questionnaire to be used in Phase Two were created. A list of draft core competency items in categories was established by Delphi experts. The list of proposed core competency items was finalized after its validity and reliability were tested by content experts and former infection control nurses. The functioning of the rating scale of the proposed questionnaire was tested by Rasch measurement. In Phase Two, the views of infection control nurses were collected on the perceived importance of core competency items of infection control practices. A list of core competency items was established by a cross-sectional survey and Rasch measurement. Phase Three established a content blueprint of the certification programme for regulating the practice of Hong Kong infection control nurses. A list of critical (i.e. the most important) competency items for establishing the content blueprint of the certification programme for Hong Kong infection control nurses was decided by local infection control experts and the Rasch-based safety margin. The content weights of individual core competency items were translated by the results of the Rasch measurement in Phase Two. The expert-defined critical competency consisted of 25 competency items. The Rasch-based safety margin added 10 more items, resulting in 35 critical competency items. The content blueprint of the certification programme for infection control nurses of Hong Kong is similar in several aspects to the United States blueprint. The process model of certification content blueprint development that was created for this study is composed of two key elements, namely the core competency identification cycle and Rasch measurement. The core competency identification cycle requires three inputs--from the literature, experts and practitioners--to establish a comprehensive list of core competency items. Rasch measurement yields the core competency scale (identifying the fitting items and determining the importance levels to individual core competency items), defines the true critical competency from the expert consensus and establishes the content weights in the certification content blueprint. This process model can guide the development of content blueprints of certification programmes for other healthcare professionals in other contexts.