Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Canadian Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index

The end of the cold war and the global increase in natural disasters and armed conflict has resulted in an increase in the frequency and intensity of Canadian military operations. As a result, Nursing Officers are being deployed to stressful and hostile environments to provide health care to the ill and injured. Despite the increase in operations, there is a scarcity of information about how prepared these Nursing Officers are to cope with the demands of the deployed environment and the extreme nature and magnitude of the injuries sustained by the soldiers. Nurse readiness for deployment could impact the quality of care provided and therefore effectiveness of the combat fighting force.;This present study adapted and tested the original version of the Readiness Estimate and Deployability Index (READI) to produce a Canadian version of the instrument known as the Can READI. The results provide preliminary evidence of the instruments usefulness in measuring Individual Readiness of Canadian military nurses. In this study the factor structure of the READI was evaluated via both content and construct validity analysis. Four of the six subscales in the instrument were proven valid and reliable with a Content Validity Index of .93 for representativeness, .93 for clarity, and Cronbach's alphas ranging from .72 to .96. The two remaining subscales had Cronbach's alphas of .40 and .44, and may be of little benefit in assessing the Individual Readiness of Canadian military nurses when examined by principal component analysis. The majority of the instrument has been proven valid and reliable, and the Can READI offers a comprehensive and standard tool for evaluating individual nurse readiness.;This study also presents baseline demographic and individual readiness scores for 127 nurses in this understudied population. Canadian military nurses reported moderate readiness levels, yet low levels of competency were reported on several items. ANOVA analysis indicated that nurses with previous deployment experience, increased clinical practice and specialty nursing education had higher readiness scores. Assessing and identifying shortfalls in readiness is the first step in targeting training, to improve military nursing competencies. These competencies are necessary to prepare nurses to cope with the work demands of the austere deployed environment. Additional research will be helpful in designing a more parsimonious Can READI and further test die utility of this instrument.