Measuring Nursing Practice Models using Multi-Attribute Utility theory

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Health Services Research
• Measurement in Healthcare

Background:

• Nursing Practice Models (NPMs) are crucial for understanding group nursing practices.
• Current NPM measurement relies on subjective, expensive, and non-reproducible expert judgments.
• There is a need for objective, quantitative methods to evaluate NPMs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a quantitative index for measuring Nursing Practice Models (NPMs).
• To provide a reproducible and cost-effective alternative to current NPM assessment methods.
• To evaluate the extent to which nursing units achieve the nursing professional ideal.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Multi-Attribute Utility (MAU) theory to guide the development process.
• An expert panel identified 24 key factors representative of NPMs.
• A computational index was created by summing these factors to score nursing units.
• Initial validation involved comparing index scores with expert global evaluations for 40 nursing units.

Main Results:

• The developed index provides a quantitative score for nursing units based on 24 identified NPM factors.
• Initial validation demonstrated preliminary support, with Pearson correlations showing agreement between index-generated scores and expert global assessments.
• The index offers a potentially reproducible and cost-effective approach to NPM evaluation.

Conclusions:

• The newly developed computational index shows promise as a valid tool for quantitatively measuring Nursing Practice Models (NPMs).
• This quantitative approach can improve the objectivity and reproducibility of nursing practice evaluations.
• Further research and validation are warranted to establish the index's utility in diverse nursing settings.