Preceptors' Subjective Competency Ratings in Acute Care Hospitals in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: This study focused on developing a Subjective Competency Scale (SCS) in acute care hospitals and identified factors that affect preceptors' competency to precept new graduate nurses (NGNs). METHOD: This study was conducted in two stages that included collecting information on preceptor training courses and conducting a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. A total of 350 preceptors completed the survey in 2011. The validity and reliability of the SCS were determined. RESULTS: An SCS was developed using 22 items and five factors: teaching/assessment skills, interpersonal/communication skills, confidence/self-assurance, problem-solving/stress-coping skills, and self-reflection. These explained 69.73% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha for these five factors of scale ranged from .715 to .889. Preceptors' subjective competency was correlated positively with age, years as a nurse, years as a preceptor, willingness to be a preceptor, and self-rated relationship with NGNs (p < .001). CONCLUSION: The SCS exhibited high validity and reliability; therefore, it can be used for future preceptors' subjective competency assessment and evaluation. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2019;50(2):69-78.].