A Preliminary Study Of Knowledge Management Skills Assessment Tool For Nursing Undergraduates

Objective: A simple, reliable, effect assessment tool with a good reliability and validity for measuring nursing undergraduate’s knowledge management skills was developed to provide the reference basis for measuring nursing undergraduate’s knowledge management skills; The level of nursing undergraduate’s knowledge management skills and their influencing factors in Hunan province was investigated so as to provide reference for understanding their knowledge management skills status.Methods: The theoretical framework of the knowledge management skills system was defined by the research group after reviewing literature and group discussion. A total of 192 items were formed via opening questionnaire and deep discussion to nursing undergraduates as well as reviewing literature. The initial edition with 53 items was obtained after three rounds of 36 experts’ consultation who comes from different places and fields of study. Of 611 nursing undergraduates who from 3 universities, were picked out by cluster sampling and investigated. The data were analyzed using the SPSS20.0 statistic software including items analysis and the first round of exploratory factor analysis. Then we obtained the applying edition including 40 items. In the second round, 1139 nursing undergraduates from 5 universities were picked out by cluster sampling and investigated. The data were analyzed using the SPSS20.0 and AMOS7.0 statistic software packages including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis. Then we obtained the final scale involving 36 items. We extracted 804 data from 4 universities in Hunan province and analyzed with the SPSS20.0. The statistical methods include mean and standard deviation analysis, one-factor ANOVA analysis, so as to understand the level of nursing undergraduate’s knowledge management skills in Hunan province and their influencing factors.Results: The final “scale of nursing undergraduates’ knowledge management skills” was composed of 3 levels( knowledge management cognition, knowledge management attitude, knowledge management behavior),8 factors(cognition of knowledge management meaning, belief of knowledge management, wishes of knowledge management, ability of obtaining knowledge, ability of storing knowledge, ability of sharing knowledge, ability of using knowledge, ability of innovating knowledge),36 items in total. The Kendall coefficient(W) of the third rounds of expert consultation was 0.504; the authoritative coefficient of the third rounds of expert was 0.813; the Coefficient of Variation of all items were 0.04~0.16;the content validity index was 0.909. The result of exploratory factor analysis of applying edition:the value of KMO were 0.866、0.819、0.908 respectively for there levels; the results of Bartlett’s test were P<0.000 for three levels; Rotated factor loaded>0.4 for total. The result of confirmatory factor analysis for 3 levels of applying edition: the values of χ 2/df were 1.364~1.809; RMR value were 0.021~0.034; REMSEA value were 0.026~0.039, GFI, AGFI, NFI, IFI, TLI and CFI were >0.90 respectively. RFI were 0.877~0.977; PNFI and PCFI were >0.5 respectively, CN were >200. The correlation coefficient between the scale and sub-scale were 0.875~0.912. The scale’s structure validity was good. The scale’s Cronbach’s α was 0.933; Split coefficient was 0.873; the test-retest coefficient was 0.898. The scores of total scale of knowledge management skills about the nursing students in Hunan province were(3.71±0.49); the score of knowledge management cognition is the highest one(3.85±0.61) in three dimension and knowledge management behavior is the lowest(3.54±0.50). The influencing factors of knowledge management ability of nursing undergraduates included mark, interesting to nursing, being a cadres or not, the reason of choosing nursing and participating social practice(P<0.01).Conclusions: 1.knowledge management skills assessment tool of nursing undergraduates include 3 sub-scales, 8 factors and 36 items.2.The knowledge management skills evaluation tool of nursing undergraduates structured had a good reliability and validity. It could be used to evaluate the ability of nursing undergraduates’ knowledge management skills.3.The scales of knowledge management skills about the nursing students in Hunan province were at an upper middle level.4.The influencing factors of knowledge management ability of nursing undergraduates include mark, interesting to nursing, being a cadres or not, the reason of choosing nursing and participating social practice.