The Turkish version of the Handover Evaluation Scale: A validity and reliability study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Health Sciences
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Effective patient handover is crucial for patient safety and continuity of care.
• Standardized tools are needed to evaluate the quality of nursing handovers.
• Existing tools may require cultural and linguistic adaptation for different populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the English version of the Handover Evaluation Scale for use in a Turkish nursing context.
• To establish the validity and reliability of the adapted scale in a Turkish sample.

Main Methods:

• A methodological, cross-sectional study design was employed.
• Data were collected from 192 nurses using a descriptive form and the Handover Evaluation Scale.
• Language validity, content validity, and factor analysis were conducted.

Main Results:

• The adapted scale demonstrated a valid and reliable structure for the Turkish nursing sample, explaining 68.96% of the total variance.
• Factor analysis confirmed the scale's suitability (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett's test).
• High reliability was found (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92, test-retest ICC = 0.87).

Conclusions:

• The adapted Handover Evaluation Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating nursing handovers in Turkey.
• This validated tool can aid in improving the quality and consistency of patient handovers.
• The findings support the use of culturally adapted assessment tools in nursing research.