Development and psychometric evaluation of the Core Nurse Resource Scale

Area of Science:

• Nursing research
• Psychometrics
• Healthcare management

Background:

• The nursing work environment significantly influences staff engagement and retention.
• Existing tools may not fully capture the multifaceted resources available to nursing staff.
• Understanding these resources is crucial for addressing nurse disengagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Core Nurse Resource Scale.
• To determine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the scale.
• To establish the scale's utility in assessing nursing work environments.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 149 nursing personnel (Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants) in long-term care facilities.
• Exploratory factor analysis was employed to examine the scale's structure.
• Cronbach's alpha and bivariate correlations were used to assess internal consistency reliability and concurrent-related validity.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis identified an 18-item, three-factor structure explaining 52% of the variance.
• Internal consistency reliability ranged from 0.79 to 0.91 for the scale and its factors.
• The Core Nurse Resource Scale demonstrated positive correlations with work engagement measures (r=0.247-0.572).

Conclusions:

• The Core Nurse Resource Scale shows initial promise as a psychometrically sound measure.
• The scale can identify workplaces at risk for disengaged nursing staff.
• Further validation in diverse practice settings is recommended for broader applicability.