Abstract: Objective: To construct a Entrustable Professional Activities indicator system for newly hired nurses in the Cardiac Surgery ICU and to provide a reference for the competency assessment of nurses in clinical Cardiac Surgery ICU. Methods: The first draft of the Entrustable Professional Activities indicators for newly hired nurses in Cardiac Surgery ICU was constructed through literature review and group discussion. From December 2022 to February 2023, 15 experts from Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and Hubei provinces were consulted using Delphi method to form the evaluation Indicators for Entrustable Professional Activities for newly hired nurses. Results: The recovery rate of the two rounds of expert consultation questionnaires was 100.0%. The Kendall coefficients of the two rounds of expert consultation were 0.218 and 0.362 respectively (all P<0.05). Finally, 20 Entrustable Professional Activities indicators for newly hired nurses in Cardiac Surgery ICU and their content descriptions were constructed, and the expected confidence levels of each indicator at different time points were determined. Conclusion: The content of high-quality entrustable professional activities indicators for newly hired nurses in Cardiac Surgery ICU is preliminarily constructed, and the expected confidence levels at different time points are determined, so as to provide a valuable reference for the competency-oriented training of new nurses in Cardiac Surgery ICU.

Key words: Cardiac Surgery ICU; newly hired nurses; Entrustable Professional Activities; Delphi method; indicator