Psychometric testing of the Caring Behaviors Inventory for nursing students

To test the psychometric properties of the nursing students' version of the 24-item Caring Behaviours Inventory.

Caring is at the heart of nursing and should also be a core value in nursing education. Caring can be manifested through measurable behaviours. The Caring Behaviors Inventory is a valid and reliable measure of nurses' caring behaviours in clinical settings. It has already been used among nursing students, but it needs more psychometric testing.

Cross-sectional validation study.

The questionnaire was filled in by 300 undergraduate nursing students at two Italian universities in May 2016. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted using Mplus maximum likelihood with GEOMIN oblique rotation. A multifaceted approach was used to evaluate the model fit. The STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies was followed.

Four dimensions were identified: "being with," "doing with competence," "responding to individual needs" and "providing effective care." Adequate fit indices and high reliability of the factors were found. Correlations between factors were positive and significant.

This study makes it possible to use the same tool to compare the caring practices perceived by students, nurses and patients. Further studies with bigger samples could be stratified to investigate the associations between caring levels and student characteristics. The Caring Behaviors Inventory can be used to call attention to caring in nursing education, helping to make this concept less elusive.

The effective self-assessment of nursing students' caring behaviours offers opportunities for reflection on their caring practice. This could improve the caring level of their behaviours in clinical practice and help them to become caring nurses in the future.