Professional Practice Analysis: Validity Evidence for the Continued Professional Certification Examination for Nurse Anesthetists

Abstract

Introduction This article presents the results of the 2015 professional practice analysis (PPA) conducted by the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). The goal of the PPA was to establish and validate a content outline and test specifications for NBCRNA's examination for the continued professional certification (CPC) program. In professional certification test development, a PPA establishes the content validity of an examination and serves as the key evidentiary link between the test and clinical practice. Methods The PPA used survey and rating scale methodologies to collect data on the relative emphasis of various aspects of the nurse anesthesia knowledge domain and competencies. Overall, 726 survey responses were analyzed by a panel with expertise in clinical anesthesia and testing methodology, using conventional statistics and the Rasch rating scale model. Descriptions of how the survey results were used to develop test specifications are also provided. Results The results of the analysis provided strong validity evidence for the content outline and test specifications. Conclusion To a great extent, the responses of the PPA survey exhibited a high-degree endorsement for the knowledge statements included on the outline and thus serve as a basis of content validation for the CPC examination.