Adaptation of clinical decision making in nursing scale to undergraduate students of nursing: the study of reliability and validity

Abstract

A clinical decision making skill is essential in the implementation of nursing knowledge and reflecting on patient care. The research was planned to measure the reliability and validity of The Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale (CDMNSTr) for undergraduate nursing students from Turkey. This study is a methodological design. This study was conducted on 210 undergraduate students of nursing. For validity; Language – Content Validity and Construct Validity (Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis) were examined. For reliability; CDMNS’s Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient, item-total score correlation coefficients and stability analysis (test-retest) were examined. Item Content Validity Index and Scale Content Validity Index were calculated as .81 and .83 respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that goodness of fit indexes were acceptable. Cronbach alpha value of the scale was .78. Item-to-total score correlation coefficients ranged from .13 to .56. The correlation coefficient for test-retest was .82. The scale can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool to determine the perceptions of Turkish undergraduate students of nursing regarding to clinical decision making.