Development of a Performance Evaluation Tool for Infection Control Nurses in Healthcare Facilities in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Background: This study develops a job-based performance evaluation tool to assess the level of task performance among infection control nurses in response to changes and increases in their duties following the COVID-19 pandemic.Additionally, the study evaluates the validity and reliability of the developed instrument.Methods: The study participants were infection control nurses who had been working for at least one year in the infection control departments of healthcare institutions.Department heads were excluded from participation.Data collection was conducted from November 15 to December 15, 2024.Results: The final instrument consisted of 37 items categorized into the following four factors, with an explanatory power of 73.68%: 1. Operation of infection control systems and programs; 2. Management of infectious diseases and outbreaks; 3. Promotion of hand hygiene, standard precautions, and transmission-based precautions; and 4. Support for medical device reprocessing and environmental management.The instrument demonstrated both convergent and discriminant validity.Internal consistency was high, with a Cronbach's alpha of .95 for the overall tool, and the Cronbach's alphas for each factor ranged from .93 to .97. Conclusion:This study developed a valid and reliable evaluation tool that systematically assesses the performance of infection control nurses in clinical practice, reflecting the expanded and evolving roles of these professionals in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.The tool offers practical evidence that may be utilized in various domains such as education, competency development, and policy-making for infection control personnel.