Testing inter-rater reliability of the Urostomy Education Scale

Area of Science:

• Urology nursing
• Patient education
• Healthcare quality assessment

Background:

• The Urostomy Education Scale is a validated, evidence-based tool for assessing stoma self-care skills.
• Continuous validation is essential to ensure the scale's ongoing utility and reliability in clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the Urostomy Education Scale among urology nurses.
• To confirm the scale's effectiveness in documenting patient stoma self-care skills.

Main Methods:

• 38 ward nurses conducted 150 validation sessions observing 70 patients' stoma self-care skills.
• Nurses worked in pairs (experienced/inexperienced) to assess stoma appliance changes.
• Bland Altman Plots and Limits of Agreement were used to analyze reliability.

Main Results:

• The Urostomy Education Scale demonstrated high inter-rater reliability.
• Nurse experience did not significantly impact score variation (p > 0.05).
• 84% of scores fell within a 2-point range (95% CI: 74; 89).

Conclusions:

• The Urostomy Education Scale is a reliable tool for documenting stoma self-care skills.
• Its reliability is consistent across nurses with varying experience levels.
• The scale supports evidence-based patient education and inter-sector communication.