Translation and further validation of a global rating scale for the assessmentof clinical competence in prehospital emergency care

Global rating scales are useful to assess clinical competence at a general level based on specific word dimensions.The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the Paramedic Global Rating Scale, and to contributevalidity evidence and instrument usefulness in training results and clinical competence assessments of studentsundergoing training to become ambulance nurses and paramedics at Swedish and Finnish universities. The studyincluded translation, expert review and inter-rater reliability (IRR) tests. The scale was translated and culturallyadapted to clinical and educational settings in both countries. A content validity index (CVI) was calculated usingeight experts. IRR tests were performed with five registered nurses working as university lecturers, and with sixclinicians working as ambulance nurses. They individually rated the same simulated ambulance assignment.Based on the ratings IRR was calculated with intra-class correlation (ICC). The scale showed excellent CVI foritems and scale. The ICC indicated substantial agreement in the group of lecturers and a high degree of agreementin the group of clinicians. This study provides validity evidence for a Swedish version of the scale, supportingits use in measuring clinical competence among students undergoing training to become ambulancenurses and paramedics