Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Professional Communication Questionnaire for the Operating Room

Psychometrics assessment of ethical decision-making around end-of-life care scale for adolescents in the final stage of life

Introduction

Healthcare professionals have a critical role in ethical decision-making around end-of-life care. Properly evaluating the ethical decision-making of health care professionals in end-of-life care requires reliable, tailored, and comprehensive assessments. The current study aimed to translate and assess psychometrically a Persian version of the ethical decision making in end-of-life care scale for Iranian adolescents in the final stages of life.

Methods

The present study investigates the methodology and multicenter research. 310 healthcare professionals who treat/care for adolescents at the end of life were selected from 7 cities in Iran. The original version of the end-of-life care decision-making scale was translated into Persian using the forward-backward translation method, and its psychometric properties were evaluated using COSMIN criteria.

Results

Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the factor loadings of the items ranged from 0.68 to 0.89, all of which were statistically significant. Furthermore, three factors had eigenvalues greater than 1, accounting for 81.64% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a proper goodness of fit in the hypothesized factor structure. The internal consistency reliability of the tool was assessed in terms of its homogeneity, yielding a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.93.

Conclusion

The Persian version of the End-of-Life Care Decision-Making Scale demonstrates satisfactory validity and reliability among healthcare professionals working with adolescents in the final stages of life. Therefore, nursing managers can utilize this tool to measure and evaluate ethical decision-making in end-of-life care for adolescents in the final stages of life and identify the most appropriate strategies, including educational interventions, to improve ethical decision-making in end-of-life care if necessary.

Translation and psychometric assessment of a Persian version of medication safety competence scale (MSCS) for clinical nurses

Nurses play a key role in medication safety and, by extension, patient safety. Evaluation of medication safety competence in nurses requires valid, specific, and comprehensive instruments. The present study was conducted to translate and psychometric assessment a Persian version of medication safety competence scale (MSCS) for clinical nurses in Iran. This is a cross-sectional and multi-centric work of research with a methodological design. A total of 1080 clinical nurses were selected from 5 cities located in Iran. The original version of the MSCS was translated into Persian and the psychometric properties of MSCS were assessed using COSMIN criteria. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) showed that the factor loading of the 36 items was between 0.72-0.87, all of which were significant. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) fitted the data well (χ²/df = 7, RMSEA = 0.01, CFI = 0.96, NFI = 0.95, and TLI = 0.97). The reliability of the instrument was assessed in terms of its internal homogeneity where the Cronbach's alpha of the whole instrument was found to be 0.96. The Persian version of MSCS for nurses possesses satisfactory validity and reliability. Thus, nurse managers can use this instrument to measure medication safety competence in nurses.

Nurses' Perceptions of the Management of Acute Pain in Emergency Departments: Cross-sectional Study

AIM

This study aimed to describe registered nurses' perceptions of acute pain management in emergency departments.

DESIGN

The study design was a cross-sectional survey carried out in accordance with Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. One hundred one nurses from 5 different emergency departments participated in the survey.

METHODS

Data were analyzed using descriptive methods, nonparametric tests, and principal component analysis.

RESULTS

Continuing education was significantly related to pain management. Nurses who had received continuing pain management education thought more often that challenges in pain management impact patients' acute pain management than those who had not received education. Nurses reported that patients received inadequate pain medication. The most used nonpharmacological methods were ice therapy and postural care. The nurses reported that music and conversation with the patient ameliorated the patients' acute pain. Nurses stated that their lack of knowledge concerning pain management and workload affected their acute pain management.

CONCLUSION

Study results emphasize the need to develop ongoing pain management education for registered nurses and in addition to further research of nonpharmacological alleviation method in emergency departments.

A Study of the Relationship between Professional Communication and Professional Commitment in Operating Room Nurses

Background. Operating rooms are among the most complex clinical environments in hospitals where teamwork and professional communication play a very important part. Professional commitment is an influential factor in the personnel’s professional communication and can affect the outcomes of healthcare services. Objective. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between professional communication and professional commitment in the operating room nurses in teaching hospitals. Study Design. The present study used a descriptive-correlational design. Participants were selected via census sampling from hospitals in Shiraz over a period of three months. The participants were 350 operating room nurses who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected using professional communication and a professional commitment questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS $v$ v. 22. Findings. The operating room nurses’ mean scores for professional communication (136.81 ± 13.77) and professional commitment (71.42 ± 11.62) were found to be high. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient test showed that there was a statistically significant linear relationship between professional communication and professional commitment ( $p<0.001$ , r = 0.235). The results also showed that there was a significant relationship between professional commitment on the one hand and gender ( $p=0.042$ ), marital status ( $p=0.047$ ), and interest in work ( $p=0/000$ ) on the other hand. There was also a significant relationship between professional communication and interest in work ( $p=0/000$ ). Conclusion. Given the significance of professional communication and professional commitment in the operating rooms, it is recommended that healthcare administrators and policymakers take steps to improve these areas. It is suggested that measures should be taken to increase the personnel’s awareness of the principles of professional communication and the significance of professional commitment through regular workshops.

Examining the views of operating room nurses and physicians on the relationship between professional values and professional communication

Purpose

Professional communication and professional values are two basic concepts in operating rooms and should be studied more closely in view of the nature of work and the high circulation of patients in operating rooms.

Methods

The present work is a descriptive-analytic study with a cross-sectional design. The sample was 603 operating room physicians and personnel selected from the public hospitals of Shiraz. The data collection instruments were the 41-item professional communication questionnaire and the 26-item professional values scale.

Results

The results showed that the operating room nurses and physicians perceived the status of professional communication and professional values to be satisfactory. As for professional communication, the participants’ perception of the domains of mutual respect and trust (p ≤ 0.001), teamwork (p ≤ 0.001), ethical competence (p ≤ 0.017), and workplace conflicts (p ≤ 0.001) was significant. As for professional values, only the dimension of care (p ≤ 0.016) was perceived to be significant. Moreover, a significant positive relationship was found to exist between professional communication and professional values (p ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion

Considering the significance of the concept of professional communication and its connection with professional values, it is recommended that operating room personnel and physicians receive systematic education about professional communication and the harms of destructive attitudes as part of their academic education and afterwards.

Development and assessment of the psychometric properties of a compassionate care questionnaire for nurses

Background

Compassionate care is emphasized within professional ethics codes for nursing and is a key indicator of care quality. The purpose of the present study is to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a compassionate care instrument for nurses.

Methods

This methodological study was carried out in two phases -qualitative and quantitative-from February 2016 to October 2018. In the qualitative stage of the study, a content analysis approach was used to establish the concept of compassionate care through interviews with nurses, patients, and family caregivers. The initial draft of the questionnaire was developed based on the qualitative findings and a subsequent review of the literature. In the second phase, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed for validity and reliability. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS v.16.

Results

From the results of the qualitative phase and review of literature, 80 items were extracted. In the quantitative phase, after evaluation of the face and content validity, 40 items were kept. After measurement of the construct validity, 28 items whose factor loading was above 0.4 were retained. Measurement of convergent validity showed a moderate correlation between the questionnaire and the nurses’ caring behaviors scale (r = 0.67, P = 0.01). The reliability of the 28-item questionnaire was tested by measuring its Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and intra-class correlation coefficient which were found to be 0.91 and 0.94 for the whole questionnaire, respectively.

Conclusion

The questionnaire has enough validity and reliability to be used for measuring the nurses’ compassionate care. Therefore, the instrument can be used to measure and record the quality of nursing care.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-021-00691-3.

Development and psychometric evaluation of a reflection on clinical practice questionnaire for nursing students

BACKGROUND

Reflection on clinical practice is the core of education for nursing students. Evaluating reflection on clinical experiences requires a tool which accurately measures reflection skills. The present study aims to develop and test the psychometric properties of a tool for measuring nursing students' reflection on clinical practice.

METHODS

Based on a mix-method exploratory approach, the study was carried out in two stages: in the first stage (the qualitative phase), the concept of reflection on clinical practice was established. In the second stage (the quantitative phase), the psychometric properties of the developed scale were evaluated.

RESULTS

Based on the results of the exploratory factor analysis and the verification process, the final version of the scale came to consist of 36 items and 6 dimensions. The dimensions were: professional competence, internal sources of motivation, challenging situational clinical setting, dynamic organizational atmosphere, reflection-based self-management, and dynamic professional growth. Overall, 6 factors accounted for 62.79% of the variances. The factor loadings of the items ranged between 0.62 and 0.94, all of which were significant. The total intraclass correlation (ICC) of the scale was found to be 0.94. Also, evaluation of the reliability of the scale as measured through internal homogeneity yielded a total Cronbach's alpha of 0.90.

CONCLUSION

The findings show that the developed scale for evaluation of nursing students' reflection on clinical practice possesses satisfactory validity and reliability, and nursing professors can use this instrument to assess students' reflection skills.

Development and psychometric assessment of the triage nurses' professional capability questionnaire in the emergency department

BACKGROUND

Evaluation of triage nurses' professional capability is integral to identifying potentials for professional development and nurses' educational needs, thus, there is a need for valid instruments to assess their professional capability. The present study was conducted to develop and measure the reliability and validity of a triage nurses' professional capability questionnaire.

METHODS

This exploratory research was conducted in two stages: in the first stage (the qualitative phase), the concept of professional capability in triage nurses was defined and the items of the questionnaire were developed through conventional content analysis. In the second stage (the quantitative phase), the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were assessed based on analyses of its face validity, content validity, construct validity, internal homogeneity, and consistency.

RESULTS

The initial item pool consisted of 90 items, while the final scale was comprised of 35 items. The S-CVI/Ave of the questionnaire was found to be 0.96.The exploratory factor analysis showed that the factor loading of the items was between 0.46-0.89, all of which were significant, and the three dimensions introduced in the main instrument were verified with acceptable values. The overall intraclass correlation coefficient of the instrument was calculated to be 0.90. The reliability of the instrument was assessed in terms of its internal homogeneity where the Cronbach's alpha of the whole instrument was found to be 0.89.

CONCLUSIONS

The results showed that the questionnaire developed for assessment of triage nurses' professional capability is sufficiently reliable and valid and can be employed by nurse administrators to evaluate triage nurses' professional capability.