The Development Of Performance Self-rating Scale For Nursing Students On Simulation Training

Objective: To develop a self-rating scale for nursing students and measure the reliability and validity of the instrument, so as to provide an instrument for evaluation of simulation training and an objective evidence of reforming teaching methods.Methods: Qualitative research and quantitative research were conducted in the study. In the first stage, items of the scale were emerged. Based on the objective of the high nursing education in our country and literature review about high-fidelity simulation training, we confirmed the original inventory and 5 dimensions for the measurement. Semi-structured interviews were carried out by face to face on a purposive sample of 28 undergraduate nursing students (4 focus groups) and 7 nursing education experts from 3 undergraduate nursing schools and 2 teaching hospitals in Guangzhou. The data were analyzed based on Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Combining with literature review about high-fidelity simulation training, the structure of the scale and the item pool were established. The scale items were revised by screening of the core group and face-validity-testing with a convenience sample of 30 nursing students. Questionnaires were distributed with a purposive sample of 5 nursing experts. After twice Delphi technique of experts'evaluation, the items were revised by analysis of content validity. In the second stage, reliability and validity of the scale were measured. We recruited a purposive sample of 284 undergraduate nursing students from Guangzhou Medical University School of Nursing based on the inclusion criteria. The responses were then entered into the Epidata database. Data analysis was conducted with the SPSS16.0 statistics software program. The data were checked for confirmatory factor analysis with LISREL structural equation software program. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, spearman correlation, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to measure the reliability and validity of the instrument.Results: The scale consisted of 24 items, related to five dimensions with a 5-point Likert scale. The 5 dimensions were communication (3 items), co-operation (4 items), clinical decision (6 items), professional knowledge and skill (5 items), professional development and critical thinking (6 items). The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.924), the content validity (S-CVI/UA=0.923, S-CVI/Ave=0.977), confirmatory factor analysis (NFI=0.94, NNFI=0.95, CFI=0.96,χ2/df=2.569), exploratory factor analysis (KMO=0.927, factors cumulatively explaining 59.675 % of the variance), correlation analysis (dimension-related-scale correlation coefficient was 0.694～0.873, dimension-related correlation coefficient was 0.60～0.97 ) were acceptable in psychometrics.Conclusion: Students'performance can be validly and reliably measured using the scale. It, however, needs further psychometric evaluation, covering a broad region and samples.