Psychometric Testing of the Chinese Version of Second Victim Experience and Support Tool

The Second Victim Experience and Support Tool (SVEST) is a 29-item, nine-subscale questionnaire, which measures the second-victim experience and quality of support resources after the health professionals involved with medical errors. Second victim is common among the registered nurses (RNs) in China; however, no Chinese version of the SVEST is available. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the SVEST (C-SVEST) among RNs.

The SVEST was forward and backward translated. The reliability and validity of the final C-SVEST were tested by using 625 RNs in Beijing, China. Internal consistency and split-half analysis were used to examine reliability, content validity was evaluated by expert committee, and validity was assessed via exploratory factory analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

The Cronbach α coefficient (0.59-0.92) and split-half analysis (Spearman-Brown coefficient = 0.88) were acceptable. The item-level content validity index (I-CVI) ranged from 0.85 to 0.97. The average of scale-level content validity index was 0.91. Eight factors were extracted by exploratory factory analysis, which explained 70.8% of the total variance of second-victim experience and support in the C-SVEST. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit for a nine-factor structure and the values were acceptable: root mean square error approximation = 0.07; comparative fit index = 0.90; goodness-of-fit index = 0.84; and χ2/df = 2.19.

The C-SVEST is a valid and reliable tool to assess the extent of second-victim distress and support resources in Chinese health care workers. In Asian culture, nurses are hesitant to express emotional distress and instead they express physical discomfort and turnover intentions.