Examination of the reliability and validity of the nursing competency scale without physical restraint for elderly patients in acute care hospitals

Abstract

  The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Nursing Competency Scale without physical restraint in acute care hospitals. The subjects were 5821 ward nurses at 52 facilities who worked with acute care hospitals nationwide. The contents of the survey were 70 items related to basic attributes and nursing competencies that do not require physical restraint. For validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were examined by covariance analysis. Conformity was determined by comparative fit index and root mean square error of approximation and reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha reliability factor. 2156 copies (37%) were collected, and 1692 (29%) were valid responses. Four factors and 25 items were extracted. We examined the suitability of the four-factor secondary factor model to the data, and the result (CFI=.929, RMSEA=.055) met the statistically acceptable level. Cronbach’s α was 0.93 across the scale. Thus, the reliability and validity of the nursing competency scale without physical restraint were confirmed.