Search

(1) Background: The assessment and application of registered nurses' professional skills are essential to providing quality and safe care. Self-efficacy can positively affect the professional competence of registered nurses. This study analysed professional competence and its association with self-efficacy among registered nurses. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. The sampling was conventional. The data collection took place through the Albanian version of the Nurse Professional Competence Scale Short Form (A-NPCS-SF), which was used to assess their professional skills, and the Albanian version of the Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale (A-NPSES), which was used to assess their self-efficacy. The study was based on a convenience sample of 985 registered nurses from the 12 Albanian provinces. (3) Results: The Cronbach alpha value for the A-NPCS-SF scale was 0.947, while for the A-NPSES scale, it was 0.875, proving both scales to be reliable. Self-efficacy does not play an essential role in the development of the professional competence of registered nurses since our survey found only one dimension correlates with these two elements. (4) Conclusions: The results of our analysis have instead highlighted the importance of a close relationship between job satisfaction and the development of professional skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interprofessional education requires that two or more professionals learn from and with each other to allow effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. Thus far, the interprofessional collaboration of healthcare students might be assessed using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), which is currently not available in its Italian version. This study aimed to provide the intercultural adaptation of the RIPLS in Italian (I-RIPLS) and assess its validity and reliability. A two-phase validation study was performed in 2020, using a single-centre approach in students enrolled in the medical degree, physiotherapy, nursing, and dentistry courses at an Italian-speaking university in Albania. The first phase of the study determined the cross-cultural adaptation of the items by involving two translators who followed a forward and backward translation process. In the second phase, a sample of 414 students was enrolled. The preliminary corrected item-total correlations showed that five items did not show significant item-to-total correlations. Even if their deletion was not mandatory for generating a suitable correlation matrix for factor analysis, the advantages of keeping only items contributing to a more stable measurement with a shorter scale represented the rationale for removing items with non-significant item-to-total correlation from the correlation matrix before testing the dimensionality of the I-RIPLS with factor analysis. The answers from the first 50% of responders (n = 207) were used to determine the most plausible dimensionality of the I-RIPLS by employing an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and the second 50% were used to cross-validate the most plausible dimensionality derived from EFA by employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models. The most plausible dimensionality from EFA, by acknowledging the interpretation of the scree plot, the eigenvalues greater than 1, a parallel analysis, and the previous theoretical dimensions of the tool had two factors with adequate internal consistency. The CFA confirmed the two-factor solutions and the internal consistency for each domain. The I-RIPLS has 14 items with adequate evidence of validity and reliability. Future research should revise the tool for pursuing cross-cultural multigroup measurement invariance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Transitions in nursing education and professionalism that align with global nursing standards are elucidated as critical success factors in transforming health professionals and health care in Albania. Progressive educational and regulatory pathways throughout the 2000s (1999–2020) are emphasized for their impact on the Albanian health system, including the achievement of universal healthcare coverage. Methods: Data collected by the Ministry of Health and Sport and the Regulatory Authority for nursing and other healthcare professions in Albania were analyzed and outcomes explicated with regard to Albania's major health challenges. Discussion and Conclusions: Three milestones affirmed nursing as a driving force in the Albanian healthcare system: (a) nurses constitute the largest health professional workforce via a nurse–patient ratio of 1:400 in contrast to a physician–patient ratio of 1:2,500; (b) nurses are frontline care providers via clinical leadership in the management of primary healthcare centers, which ensure universal healthcare coverage; and (c) nurses are first responders via their presence and compassionate caring in the primary healthcare centers, including making critical shifts in converting primary healthcare centers to urgent care centers as needed. Clinical Relevance: Nursing advancements have implicated quality care and professionalism in Albania across the health professions via three critical pathways: (a) health professional education at a university degree level for entry into practice (since 1999), which was prompted by and driven by nursing's quest to be a self‐regulated profession (achieved in 2007); (b) healthcare global standards sparked by nursing's mandate toward professional autonomy, as achieved via regulatory procedures and policies; and (c) interprofessional healthcare initiatives that serve as collaborative platforms for innovative educational, clinical, and research projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]