Abstract: Objective To develop an evaluation index system of core competency of clinical infection control nurse specialists, and to promote the standardization of training and certification of infection control nurse specialists. Methods Delphi method was used to conduct two rounds of correspondence with 27 experts from 17 tertiary grade-A hospitals in Shenyang, Taiyuan, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Yangjiang, etc. to develop the evaluation index system of core competency of clinical infection control nurse specialists. Results The authority coefficient of experts in the first and second rounds was 0.866 and 0.891; the determination coefficient 0.910 and 0.916, and the familiarity coefficient 0.822 and 0.867 respectively. The coordination coefficient of the overall indicators was 0.222 and 0.209 respectively (all P<0.001). The final evaluation index system of core competency consisted of 7 first-level, 31 second-level and 127 third-level indicators. Conclusion The evaluation index system of core competency of clinical infection control nurse specialists is reliable, which provides reference for the design and certification of the training system of clinical infection control nurse specialists. It still needs to be improved with the development of infection control.

Key words: infection control nurse specialist, competency, index system, Delphi technique