Validation of a self-assessment questionnaire of clinical competencies acquired in intrahospital simulated clinical practice

Abstract

Introduction: in-hospital simulated clinical practice is essential in the training of health career students, since it allows them to develop technical and non-technical skills for effective interprofessional collaborative practice. However, there are not many validated instruments that evaluate the development of these competencies. The objective of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of a self-assessment questionnaire of clinical skills acquired in simulated in-hospital clinical practice in an interdisciplinary group of students. Method: a quantitative descriptive study was carried out. The sample included 312 students from 6 health programs at a private Chilean university, who completed 25 hours of simulated interprofessional internships. A 14-item self-assessment questionnaire with 5 response categories was applied, validated by experts. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Results: the factor analysis confirmed a structure of 4 dimensions: ethical values, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional communication and teamwork. The response averages were very high, close to 5 (totally agree). Pearson correlations were high (>0,6) for most items. The overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0,94. Conclusions: the questionnaire showed adequate psychometric properties to evaluate the self-perception of clinical skills acquired in interprofessional simulated practice