Structural Validity and Reliability of an Adapted Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index for Primary Health...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice Environment Assessment
• Health Services Research
• Workforce Policy

Background:

• The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) is a key tool for evaluating nursing work environments.
• Existing PES-NWI versions may not fully capture the specific characteristics of primary health care settings.
• There is a need for a validated instrument tailored to primary health care nursing environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an adapted version of the PES-NWI specifically for primary health care nurses.
• To ensure the adapted tool accurately reflects the unique aspects of primary health care settings.
• To provide a reliable measurement for assessing nursing practice environments in primary care.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study and test-retest design were employed.
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) assessed structural validity.
• Cronbach's alpha and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs) evaluated internal consistency and reliability.

Main Results:

• A total of 528 primary health care nurses participated, with a high response rate (78%).
• CFA indicated a good model fit for the adapted PES-NWI.
• High internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.70-0.95) and strong test-retest reliability (ICCs > 0.70) were observed.

Conclusions:

• The adapted PES-NWI demonstrates adequate structural validity, internal consistency, and reliability for primary health care settings.
• This validated tool can enhance the assessment of nursing work environments in primary care.
• The findings support the use of the adapted PES-NWI in informing nursing workforce policies.