Development of an Evaluation Scale related to the Understanding of Children by Nursing Students

-- Targeting Students of Three-Year Courses at Nursing Vocational Schools --

Abstract

This research aims to develop an evaluation scale related to the understanding of children by nursing students attending three-year courses at nursing vocational schools, and to elucidate the scale's reliability and validity. A total of 1456 third-year nursing students attending three-year courses at nursing vocational schools were involved in this research. After selecting the items, factor analysis and principal component analysis were performed. As a result, an evaluation scale related to the understanding of children was constructed, which comprised a total of 30 items and four subscales: 'development of intellectual, emotional and social functions', 'experience of children with health impairments', 'body physiology characteristics' and 'autonomy'. Internal consistency was confirmed with an overall Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of .94 for the 30 items and a Cronbach's α coefficient of .921, which ranged from .751 to .862 within the four sub-domains. This scale is considered useful for educational evaluations conducted from the perspective of understanding children in the pediatric nursing curriculum of three-year courses at nursing vocational schools.