Developing and validating the nurse-patient relationship scale (NPRS) in China

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Psychometrics
• Healthcare Quality

Background:

• Poor nurse-patient relationships negatively impact patient experience and outcomes.
• Existing scales for measuring nurse-patient relationships are limited.
• A validated tool is needed to assess nurse-patient relationships in China.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a multi-dimensional scale for measuring nurse-patient relationships in China.
• To provide a reliable instrument for assessing the quality of nurse-patient interactions.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and Delphi consultations with 12 nursing experts to construct a preliminary scale.
• Face validity tested with 45 clinical nurses.
• Validation study with 620 clinical nurses, including Cronbach's α, content validity, known-group validity, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Main Results:

• The validated Nurse-Patient Relationship Scale (NPRS) comprises 23 items across five dimensions: nursing behavior, nurse understanding/respect, patient misunderstanding/mistrust, communication, and interaction.
• The NPRS demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's α: 0.725–0.932).
• Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed excellent model fit, indicating strong construct validity.

Conclusions:

• The Nurse-Patient Relationship Scale (NPRS) is a psychometrically sound and valid instrument.
• The NPRS can be effectively used to measure nurse-patient relationships in the Chinese context.
• This validated scale can contribute to improving nursing practice and patient care quality.