2026-05-13
New study presents shorter, validated instruments for measuring nurses' professional competence
A new international study developed and validated two brief versions of the established Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale: NPC-6 and NPC-12.
A new international study involving researchers from Sweden and China has developed and validated two brief versions of the established Nurse Professional Competence (NPC) Scale: NPC-6 and NPC-12. These new versions provide time-efficient and reliable alternatives for assessing educational interventions and nurses' professional competence in large scale research settings and clinical development contexts.
The study is based on data from 2,747 registered nurses in Sweden and China. The results demonstrate that both NPC-6 and NPC-12 had strong associations with the NPC-35 scale and high internal consistency. NPC-6 is particularly suitable for use as a global total score in large-scale studies and longitudinal follow-ups, while NPC-12 also enables analysis of six specific competency areas. The instruments were further able to distinguish between specialist and non-specialist nurses, supporting their practical relevance.
These new short versions are considered valuable tools for education, research, and quality improvement in health care, where there is a strong need for efficient and internationally comparable measurement instruments. Further studies are planned to examine the instruments' stability and sensitivity to change over time.
Contact: Professor Maria Engström – maria.engstrom@hig.se