The career success scale in nursing: psychometric evidence to support the Chinese version

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the 11-item Chinese version of the Career Success Scale.

Nurses play an important role in the healthcare system. Opportunities to achieve success and satisfaction from one's career affect the retention and stability of the nursing workforce. The Career Success Scale was originally developed in English and has been translated into Chinese. Psychometric testing of the Chinese Career Success Scale for measuring career success in nurses has not been performed.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted.

A convenience sample of 1148 clinical nurses were recruited from 10 level-3 hospitals in Guangdong Province, mainland China, from December 2010-December 2011.

Results indicated that the Chinese Career Success Scale demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Principal component analysis supported the three-factor structure of the original instrument: Career Satisfaction, Perceived within Organization Competitiveness and Perceived External Organization Competitiveness. There were significant correlations among the three factors, which demonstrated the good construct validity of the Chinese version of this scale.

The Chinese Career Success Scale appears to be a reliable and valid instrument. It has the potential to be used to measure nurses' career success in mainland China. The findings will be useful for nurse leaders and policymakers in the evaluation of nurses' self-perceived career success and to develop strategies to promote nurse retention and career development.