Nursing is considered the backbone of health care systems around the world, and a decline in nursing competencies will have a significant negative impact on health outcomes (WHO, 2006). Several studies conducted by Linda Aiken have shown that good levels of nursing competency development are associated with lower mortality rates in hospitalized patients, as well as lower morbidity and the occurrence of fewer adverse events (Aiken, Smith and Lake, 1994; Aiken, Clarke, Cheung et al, 2003; Aiken, Clarke, Sloane et al, 2008; Aiken, Sloane, Bruyneel, et al, 2014).

In 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented its European Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery Education to improve and standardize nursing programs (WHO, 2001). In 2006, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) issued a recommendation to nursing educators to maintain the demand for high standards of competencies in registered nurses (ICN, 2006). More recently, WHO has strengthened these guidelines by emphasizing the importance of evidence- and competency-based nursing curricula (WHO, 2009). Nursing competencies require complex combinations of knowledge, performance, skills, and attitudes and include universal components such as problem-solving and critical thinking skills. A recent literature review highlighted the existence of eight main categories: 1) professional and ethical values; 2) skills and interventions; 3) communication and interpersonal skills; 4) knowledge and cognitive skills; 5) assessment and quality improvement in care; 6) professional development; 7) leadership management and teamwork; and 8) use of research (Kajander-Unkuri et al., 2013).

Despite a relative consensus on what is expected of nursing as a contributor to improving the health of populations and the existence of national and international guidelines that frame nursing education, variations between and within countries are to be expected as a result of national contexts and the autonomy of schools. In an increasingly globalized world, the comparison of exit competencies of nursing students can be an essential tool to standardize requirements and facilitate recruitment. On the other hand, monitoring the level of competencies offered by different nursing programs can be an important mechanism for continuous improvement and an essential tool for evaluating and updating programs in line with the demands of a constantly evolving world.

The use of scales to measure students' competencies at the end of their training generates data that can be used for these purposes. However, to compare data between countries, it is necessary to use common measurement instruments that have undergone validation and reliability studies in each country.

Therefore, the translation and validation study of the Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale by Nilsson et al. (2014) is a contribution to future, more general studies on the comparison and monitoring of nursing students' competencies.

Traduzir e validar culturalmente a NPC Scale de Nilsson et al (2014)


O processo de tradução e validação seguirá as recomendações da OMS (2015) com as seguintes adaptações:

1)      Tradução da versão inglesa para português por tradutor profissional

2)      Revisão por painel de peritos e revisão da primeira versão em português

3)      Retroversão de português para inglês

4)      Análise comparativa por painel de peritos. Geração de consensos e consulta a terceiros

5)      Revisão linguística da versão portuguesa

6)      Pré teste e entrevistas de avaliação de conteúdo

7)      Revisão final

Resultados esperados:

Editoração da escala NPC em português de Portugal

Comparação das competências de estudantes finalistas de enfermagem portugueses e estudantes suecos