In 2020, the World Health Organization classified the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, hereinafter referred to as the COVID-19 pandemic. This global health crisis significantly impacted both China and the international community. During the initial response to the COVID-19 emergency in 2020, approximately 28,600 nurses were mobilized nationwide to provide medical support in Hubei Province, representing 68 % of the total deployed healthcare personnel. The pandemic highlighted the essential role of nursing professionals within public health and emergency response systems [1].

With ongoing economic and social development, and through China’s implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming to strengthen connectivity with participating countries through infrastructure development and economic cooperation, China’s international engagement has deepened, thereby increasing the risk of imported infectious diseases.[2] The global infectious disease event risk assessment released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in November 2024 indicated that a total of 19 infectious diseases were identified as emergencies or outbreak events across 38 countries, including 22 moderate-risk events associated with imported cases.

Nurses serve as key personnel in the frontline response to infectious disease emergencies; therefore, their core competency levels have become a key factor in effective disease prevention and control. In this context, “frontline nurses” refer to those working in primary and secondary healthcare institutions located within county jurisdictions, including facilities at the prefecture-level city, county, township, and community levels [3].

Although Mayinur implemented competency-based disaster response training for frontline nurses in 2019, the associated indicators lacked specificity for infectious disease emergencies and did not comprehensively capture the required competencies for such scenarios [3]. As a result, this framework was not fully applicable to the assessment and training needs of frontline nurses managing infectious disease emergencies.

A study published in 2024 reviewed ten high-quality articles on assessment tools for evaluating the competencies of community nurses in public health emergency response [4]. However, none of these investigations specifically addressed the development of a core competency assessment framework tailored for frontline nurses in infectious disease emergencies. Moreover, the applicability of the existing tools had not been validated among community-based nursing personnel.

In response to this gap, a structured research effort was undertaken to construct a core competency assessment framework specifically designed for frontline nurses operating in infectious disease emergencies. The aim of this framework was to inform the selection and training of primary care nursing personnel and to support the development of emergency nursing teams led by regional medical centers.