Background: Charge nurses in intensive care units (ICUs) caring for critically ill women—including those with obstetric emergencies and severe maternal complications—are essential for care quality, patient safety, and interprofessional coordination. Yet, evidence on factors shaping their role performance after formal preparation remains sparse.

Objective: This study examined associations among ICU work experience, professional attitude, and charge nurse role performance following a structured preparatory program.

Methods: A descriptive correlational design was used. Thirty-one registered nurses with ≥3 years of ICU experience at a tertiary referral hospital in northeastern Thailand were recruited via census sampling. All completed a competency-based 3-day workshop followed by 6 months of supervised clinical mentorship. Instruments included an experience record, a 10-item professional attitude scale (CVI=0.96, α=0.97), and a 46-item role performance scale (CVI=0.99, α=0.94). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation.

Results: Mean ICU experience was 5.71 years (SD=2.22); participants completed an average of

33.62 charge shifts post-training. Both professional attitude (M=4.27, SD=0.45) and overall role performance (M=2.62, SD=0.19) were rated high. ICU experience positively correlated with critical care nursing performance (r=.46, p<.05) and workforce management (r=.41, p<.05). Professional attitude showed significant positive correlations with patient care quality supervision (r=.49, p<.01), clinical leadership (r=.39, p<.05), and overall role performance (r=.41, p<.05).

Conclusion & Implications: Structured, mentorship-embedded preparatory programs strengthen charge nurse performance in women’s critical care. Strengthening professional attitudes may further enhance care quality and leadership, advancing excellence in midwifery and women’s healthcare and enriching maternal outcomes.

Wacharee Pimsa is an Advanced Practice Nurse and Head Nurse of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Intensive Care Unit (CVT-ICU) at Srinagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. With extensive clinical expertise in cardiovascular and thoracic critical care nursing, she has demonstrated strong leadership in managing high-acuity patient care, including critically ill women experiencing cardiac and thoracic complications during the perioperative and peripartum periods. In her role as Head Nurse, she is responsible for clinical quality assurance, nursing workforce development, and the implementation of evidence-based practices within the CVT-ICU. Her research interests encompass nursing leadership, charge nurse competency development, structured preparatory programs, and the advancement of critical care nursing standards to enrich patient outcomes in women's healthcare settings. She has actively led the development and implementation of competency-based training programs for charge nurses within her unit, contributing to improved care quality and clinical leadership capacity. Her work reflects a strong commitment to fostering excellence in critical care nursing aligned with international women's healthcare standards. She is dedicated to sharing evidence-based knowledge and best practices with the global nursing community to advance safe, high-quality care for women and families in intensive care environments.