Competency Levels of Nursing Instructors in Thai Private Higher Education Institutions of Thailand
Abstract
This descriptive research aimed to 1) examine the competency levels of nursing instructors and 2) analyze the confirmatory components of nursing instructor competencies in private higher education institutions in Thailand. The sample consisted of 237 nursing instructors working at private higher education institutions in Thailand, selected through multistage random sampling. The research instruments included 1) a personal information questionnaire with 7 items and 2) a nursing instructor competency scale consisting of 113 items, that were found with content validity indices (IOC) ranging from 0.60 to 1.00, and a reliability coefficient of 0.99. Data were collected via an online questionnaire from February to June 2024. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis. The results showed as follows.
1. The overall competency level of nursing instructors in private higher education institutions in Thailand was high (M = 4.27, SD = 0.46).
2. The confirmatory factor analysis identified eight competency components of nursing instructors in these institutions: 1) application of adult learning theories and principles, 2) curriculum design and implementation, 3) nursing practice, 4) research and empirical evidence, 5) communication, coordination, and inter-organizational collaboration, 6) legal, ethical, and professional standards, 7) monitoring and evaluation, and 8) management and leadership. The proposed competency model showed good fit with the data, indicated by chi-square (c2) = 22.924, degrees of freedom (df) = 15, relative chi-square (c2df) = 1.528, p-value = 0.086, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.047, root mean square residual (RMR) = 0.006, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.976, and adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) = 0.943.
Therefore, administrators of nursing education programs at private higher education institutions in Thailand can utilize these findings to plan the development of nursing instructor competencies, especially in curriculum design and implementation, nursing practice, and management and leadership, as these areas are among the most critical competencies.
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