2011 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 5-16
I. Aim
To develop a scale for evaluating the nursing practice ability of new and veteran staff nurses in acute hospitals.
II. Methods
Six hospitals located in several metropolitan areas were selected thorough snowball sampling. The questionnaire survey was conducted on staff nurses who evaluated their own nursing practice ability (self-assessment) and senior nurses (team leaders and chief nurses) who evaluated the nursing practice ability of the staff nurses (others assessment). The pilot survey was conducted in December 2007 and the main survey was conducted in January 2008. Self-assessment and others assessment data were analyzed by item analysis and internal correlation coeffi cients were calculated between self and others assessments. Factor analysis using the maximum likelihood method incorporating factors with eigenvalues of 1 or larger was conducted with the promax rotation using only self-assessment data.
III. Results
Data were collected from the self-assessments of 1023 staff nurses and the others assessments of 1023 senior nurses. The results of item analyses showed no sealing or fl oor eff ects and the scores for all questions were higher for others assessments than for self-assessments. In addition, the internal correlation coefficient demonstrated adequate consistency between self-assessments and others assessments. Therefore, the scale was developed using only data from self-assessments. The analysis of the self-assessment data revealed the following five factors of nursing practice ability: \“Basic nursing care that is appropriate for the patient\'s situation\”, \“Nursing care for patients who are highly dependent on medical treatment\”, \“Development of individualized nursing processes for each patient\”, \“Fulfilling one\'s role as a member of a team\”, and \“Nursing care that maintains patient safety\”. Based on these factors, a 47-item nursing practice ability scale was developed.
