Psychometric testing of the Chinese version of nursing practice environment scale

To test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Nursing Practice Environment Scale (C-NPES) translated from the Lake's Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index and to explore nurses' perceptions of the nursing work environments in Taiwan.

Magnet hospitals are characterised by professional autonomy, control over nursing practice, adequacy of staffing, supportive management and effective interdisciplinary relationships, which are successful in attracting and retaining nurses. In Taiwan, this concept has gained importance since the SARS crisis of 2003. However, there have been limited Chinese instruments based on magnet hospital traits to explore Taiwan's nursing work environment.

This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. Purposive convenience samples of 842 nurses were recruited from five acute hospitals in Taiwan. Internal consistency reliability, content validity using expert review, construct validity using factor analysis and criterion-related validity were examined.

The Cronbach's alphas were 0.90 for the total scale and 0.87-0.65 for the subscales. The validity was obtained using a content validity index and principal component analysis of five-factor structure (variance explained 47.89%). The criterion-related validity was supportive of the turnover rate (t = 7.84, p < 0.001). The participants disagreed on staffing and resource adequacy and participation in hospital affairs but agreed on professional development.

The preliminary psychometric properties of C-NPES have been established. Considering cultural appropriateness, the subscales of staffing and participation in hospital affairs need advanced modification.

The C-NPES will provide hospital administrators with an overview of magnet hospital settings for nursing practice. It is beneficial for the stabilisation of the nursing workforce as well as for the optimisation of nursing work environments. Additionally, the use of professional development programs to enhance nurses' knowledge of SARS prevention is favorable.