Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of Nursing Stress Scale in Jordanian Nurses

Background and Purpose: Occupational stress (OS) has been widely acknowledged as a health issue among nurses. OS primarily impacts nurses to a greater extent than other healthcare professionals. The Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) is widely utilized to assess OS levels among nurses from diverse cultural backgrounds. No known study has investigated the psychometric characteristics of the Nursing Stress Scale within the Arab World. This study assessed the psychometric properties and cultural relevance of the Arabic version of the Nursing Stress Scale in a sample of Jordanian nurses. Methods: The present study employed a cross-sectional design to test the psychometrics of the Nursing Stress Scale among 170 nurses working in eight public healthcare centers in the capital of Jordan. An Arabic version of the scale was created by translating the English version. The expert panel confirmed the Arabic scale's content validity and cultural suitability. Exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency were used to evaluate the factorial structure and reliability. Results: In the study, the nurses' mean age was 30 ± 5.5. The content validity of the Arabic version was rated excellent, with a content validity index of 0.85. The results of the exploratory factor analysis yielded a four-factor, 23 items out of the 34 structures that accounted for 65.70% of the variance. The internal consistency reliability of the Arabic version of the Nursing Stress Scale ranged from 0.83 (inadequate emotional preparation) to 0.92 (death and dying). Conclusions: The Arabic version of the Nursing Stress Scale is valid, reliable, and culturally suitable for assessing OS within clinical environments among Jordanian nurses.