Political Competence and Evidence-Informed Policy Engagement Among Nurses and Nursing Students in Croatia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Nurses have unique insights into health systems yet remain underrepresented in policy processes. Strengthening political competence is widely regarded as important for evidence-informed nursing leadership. Objectives: To assess self-perceived political competence and policy participation among nurses and nursing students in Croatia. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey using open, non-probability recruitment. Of 447 individuals who opened the survey link, 440 provided responses and 390 completed all 19 competence items measuring political competence across three domains (attitudes, knowledge/evidence, and skills). Open recruitment precluded calculation of a conventional response rate. A 19-item self-report questionnaire measured political competence across three domains (attitudes, knowledge/evidence and skills); internal consistency was α = 0.91, although the Croatian version has not been fully validated. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, binomial tests and ordinal logistic regression on the complete-case sample. Results: Most respondents endorsed nurses’ policy involvement, the importance of scientific evidence and nursing’s holistic perspective. Conclusions: Nurses and nursing students reported strong conceptual support for a policy role but only moderate confidence in influencing policy. These cross-sectional findings highlight a gap between conceptual support and personal confidence that may be addressable through structured educational and institutional support; the impact of such initiatives on policy influence should be examined in future longitudinal or interventional studies.