LAUSR

Background: Moral competencies must be improved in nursing area practice. To evaluate the moral competence seems necessary for nurses. Aim: The aims of this study are to adapt and evaluate the psychometric properties of the moral competence questionnaire for public health nurses in Turkey. Method: The moral competence scale was translated into Turkish by a skilled translator, after which it was back-translated into English by another translator. We then administered the Turkish version of the moral competence scale to 138 public health nurses working in family and public health centers in Erzurum, a city in eastern Turkey. We analyzed the data using factor analysis and Cronbach’s &agr;. Results: Three factors were extracted, which together explained a total of 67.50% of the variance. The Cronbach’s &agr; values were .83, .91, .87, and .88 for factors 1, 2, and 3 and for the whole scale, respectively. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the moral competence scale for public health nurses is a valid and reliable assessment tool.