Developing an Instrument to Measure Public Health Nurses' Competence Related to Breastfeeding Beyond 12 Months

BACKGROUND: Health professionals need adequate competence to support breastfeeding beyond infancy. There is no established instrument to measure health professionals' competence regarding long-term breastfeeding. To respond to this shortcoming, the Long-Term Breastfeeding Competence Scale (LBCS) was developed.

RESEARCH AIM: To develop and pilot an instrument that measures public health nurses' competence related to breastfeeding beyond 12 months in order to provide adequate breastfeeding counseling for families.

METHODS: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional online survey on public health nurses working in maternity and/or child health clinics. The relevance and clarity of the LBCS were assessed by an expert panel ( N  = 6). Public health nurses ( N  = 197) completed the LBCS, which consisted of a knowledge and skills dimension and an attitude dimension. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the study sample. The conceptual validity of the knowledge and skills dimension was assessed using the dichotomous Rasch analysis, and attitude dimension using the exploratory factor analysis. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. The distribution of the items was summarized by descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: According to expert panel evaluations, the LBCS was found to meet the requirements for relevance and clarity (S-CVI 0.90). The internal consistency of the instrument was at a good level ( α  = 0.796) and met the requirements set for a new instrument.

CONCLUSION: The LBCS is appropriate to determine public health nurses' competence related to breastfeeding beyond 12 months. The LBCS can be used to identify the need for education concerning breastfeeding beyond 12 months.