CONTENT VALIDITY FOR A NURSING CERTIFICATION EXAM

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Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the structure and content validity of the Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) bank of the certification exam, of a nursing career at an institution in the metropolitan region of Chile, according to types of knowledge and cognitive skills.
Material and Method: Quantitative methodological study conducted with a sample of 1,108 MCQs between 2017 and December 2020. The variables were the complexity of the
contents and the cognitive skills addressed by the MCQs. The item classification proposed by Barrios was used to categorize the MCQs. An expert panel of 26 professors was formed, with prior informed consent. Each professor analyzed an average of 43 items and made a judgment regarding: a) relevance of the MCQs in the certification exam, b) difficulty in assessing them, and c) type of knowledge and cognitive ability being assessed. Doubtful items were resolved through a cognitive interview with graduates, which was audio- recorded with authorization and transcribed verbatim. Results: 50.9% of the MCQs were found to be relevant for inclusion in the certification exam. Of the 564 relevant MCQs, 75% were assessed as conceptual knowledge, 17% as procedural knowledge; and in terms
of cognitive abilities, 46.5% were assessed as higher-level skills. When analyzing the correspondence between the MCQs and the competencies declared in the graduate profile, 404 of the total MCQs contribute to care-provision competencies, 78 to management, 50 to research, 20 to education and 12 to transversal competencies. Conclusion: This intervention contributed to the construction of a certification exam that meets the criteria of content and
psychometric validity.