Comparing basic knowledge in critical care nursing between nurses from the United States and nurses from other countries.

BACKGROUND No previous research was found that compared basic knowledge in critical care nursing among nurses from different nations. Nurses from outside the United States were invited to participate during reliability testing of the Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool, Version 5. PURPOSE To compare basic knowledge in critical care between nurses from the United States and nurses from other countries and to measure the reliability of the Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool, Version 5. SAMPLE Data were collected for 16 months from 682 critical care nurses: 528 from the United States and 154 from other countries. RESULTS The Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool, Version 5, was a reliable test for all nurses studied, regardless of country of origin. The level of knowledge of nurses from English-speaking countries other than the United States did not differ from that of nurses from the United States. Scores for nurses from non-English-speaking nations were lower than scores for nurses from the United States. The largest source of variance in scores among all subjects was the length of experience in critical care nursing. CONCLUSIONS The Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool, Version 5, is a valid and reliable tool for assessing critical care nurses from the United States and the other countries studied. Critical care nurses from English-speaking countries scored higher than nurses from countries where the primary language is not English.