Validation of the Essentials of Magnetism II in Chinese critical care settings

To translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Essentials of Magnetism II tool (EOM II) for Chinese nurses in critical care settings.

The EOM II is a reliable and valid scale for measuring the healthy work environment (HWE) for nurses in Western countries, however, it has not been validated among Chinese nurses.

The translation of the EOM II followed internationally recognized guidelines. The Chinese version of the Essentials of Magnetism II tool (C-EOM II) was reviewed by an expert panel for culturally semantic equivalence and content validity. Then, 706 nurses from 28 intensive care units (ICUs) affiliated with 14 tertiary hospitals participated in this study. The reliability of the C-EOM II was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient; the content validity of this scale was assessed using the content validity index (CVI); and the construct validity was assessed using the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

The C-EOM II showed excellent content validity with a CVI of 0·92. All the subscales of the C-EOM II were significantly correlated with overall nurse job satisfaction and nurse-assessed quality of care. The CFA showed that the C-EOM II was composed of 45 items with nine factors, accounting for 46·51% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for these factors ranged from 0·56 to 0·89.

The C-EOM II is a promising scale to assess the HWE for Chinese ICU nurses.

Nursing administrators and health care policy-makers can use the C-EOM II to evaluate clinical work environment so that a healthier work environment can be created and sustained for staff nurses.