Measuring team climate for innovation: Development and validation of the Japanese version of the Team Climate Inventory in nursing team

Abstract

Anderson and West (1998) developed the Team Climate Inventory (TCI) to measure climate for work group innovation. This study aimed to develop a Japanese version of the TCI and test its reliability and validity for use in nursing teams. A self-administered questionnaire survey using the Japanese version of the TCI was conducted with 2,955 nurses in 112 nursing teams in 14 acute care hospitals; of these, 2,426 nurses completed the survey (a response rate of 82.1%). Factor analysis confirmed that the factorial structure of the Japanese version of the TCI was consistent with that of the original version. Cronbach's alphas for the Japanese version were over 0.9 for both total and subscale scores. The Japanese version had consensual validity and could be used for analysis at the team level. The Japanese version of the TCI was thus found to be useful for measuring the climate for innovation in nursing teams. Nursing teams' TCI scores were related to mean years of hospital service in the team and to the ratio of nurses on the team with a bachelor's or higher degree. The factors related to climate for innovation in nursing teams need further examination.