The Development and the Content Validation of the Oncology Nurses Health Behaviors Determinants Scale

Chemotherapy exposure is an occupational hazard affecting oncology nurses. The adherence to chemotherapy-handling guidelines is essential to prevent exposure to these drugs. Oncology nurses' health beliefs and the cues in the environment are factors influencing the adherence to these guidelines. There is a lack of instruments with evidence of reliability and validity in the literature that address these factors. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and the content validation of the Oncology Nurses' Health Behaviors' Determinants Scale relative to adherence to chemotherapy-handling guidelines.

This study was conducted in two phases: item development, then, content validation using a quantitative cross-sectional design with an exploratory part. A convenience sample of seven experts reviewed the items for relevance, wording, and comprehensiveness. The initial version of the scale that was sent to experts contained 65 items.

The Oncology Nurses' Health Behaviors Determinants' Scale has evidence of content validity. Twenty-eight items in the final instrument met the required level of content validity (item content validity index = 0.83). Four additional items were retained due to conceptual significance. Two items were added. The final scale contains 34 items with a total scale content validity index = 0.90.

This newly developed instrument could be used to assess the factors that influence chemotherapy exposure among oncology nurses in the light of the Health Belief Model. Following that, interventions can be developed and implemented to foster greater adherence to safe chemotherapy handling guidelines.