2020 Volume 40 Pages 611-619
Aim: To develop and validate an instrument to evaluate the course design of in-service education for nurses.
Methods: The questionnaire items were generated based on the criteria used by nurses to evaluate in-service education courses as revealed by qualitative and inductive research. Content validity was established by a panel of experts and via a pilot study. The results of the first survey—which was administered to nurses who attended 22 in-service education courses at 16 hospitals—showed that the score distribution was biased. Thus, the response choice patterns were modified, and the second survey was conducted with 444 nurses who attended 22 in-service education courses at 11 hospitals.
Results: The analysis of data from 385 participants showed that the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale was .955, signifying that the scale has internal consistency. The scale scores were significantly correlated with the nurses’ satisfaction with the courses. The scores of the nurses who attended courses that had been conducted six or more times at their hospitals were significantly higher than those for nurses who attended courses that had been conducted two times or less. The one-dimensionality of the scale was confirmed via principal component analysis. These results indicate that the scale has validity.
Conclusion: The scale that was developed has both reliability and validity, and can be utilized for evaluating the quality of course designs by nurses in charge of planning courses.
