A Factor Analysis of Head Ward’s Competencies in 21st Century at Tertiary Hospitals in The Northeast of Thailand

Abstract

This descriptive research aimed to analyze the factors of head ward’s competencies of the 21st century among registered nurses with at least 1 year of experience working at tertiary hospitals in the Northeast of Thailand. A multi-stage random sampling method was used to select 435 nurses. The research instrument was the competency assessment questionnaire developed by the researcher and examined for content validity by five experts. The content validity index was 0.88 and the reliability calculated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.89. The questionnaire was sent to the coordinators by post, and 98.86% were returned. The data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis for 2 or more factors with the factor loading of 0.3 or more. The research findings revealed that the head ward’s competencies of the 21st century among registered nurses working at tertiary hospitals in the Northeast of Thailand consisted of 11 factors with the factor loading of 0.41-0.86, explaining 60.05% of the variance of all variables, including 1) nursing quality management and development, 2) management of COVID-19 pandemic, 3) professional ethics and morality, 4) leadership, 5) risk and safety management, 6) nursing technology and information, 7) health system policy and marketing business, 8) support for teamwork and motivation, 9) analytical thinking and resource allocation, 10) communication and coordination, and 11) participation in policy making. This information can be used as an indicator for developing a scale to assess the head ward’ competencies of the 21st century at tertiary hospitals consistent with or similar to the context or scope of this work.