Research on Work-Life Balance of Nurses:

Development of Work-Life Balance Achievement Scale for Nurses

Abstract

[Purpose] This study develops a scale titled the Work-Life Balance Achievement Scale for Nurses, and investigates its reliability and validity.

[Methods] A preliminary version of the scale was developed with reference to a framework of five fields of personal achievement for work-life balance. These were proposed by a committee of public and private sector executives to promote work-life balance, of the Council for Gender Equality. Items were first examined by an expert panel to confirm the scale's content validity. They were further refined through a pretest and a preliminary survey. The scale was then tested on 600 nurses. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated to measure internal consistency, and a principal factor analysis with promax rotation was performed to verify construct validity and determine factor structure, with the following criteria: ≤0.2 for communality, <0.4 for factor loadings, and >0.4 for factor loadings other than these factors. To assess concurrent validity, correlation coefficients between the scale and another scale assessing job satisfaction with regard to workplace environment, role content, and salary developed by Adachi (1998) were calculated.

[Results] There were 218 (36.3%) valid responses. The final version of the scale had 28 items and five factors: time management, work challenges/support in the workplace, how to spend time outside work, how to spend time at home/support from family members, and switching from work to personal life. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the factors ranged from 0.65 to 0.902, and relatively strong correla-tions were found between scores on the present scale and Adachi's (r = 0.633, p < 0.01).

[Conclusion] The scale developed has adequate internal consistency and content, construct, and concur-rent validity.