Turkish Version of the Sense of Belonging in Nursing School Scale: Validity and Reliability for Nursing Students

Background: While a sense of belonging may be necessary for human motivation, the disruption of this sense of belonging among nurses can have implications for patient care and safety. Aim: This article was aimed at assessing the sense of belonging experienced by nursing students in three different settings (clinic, classroom, and student group) by conducting the validity and reliability of the Sense of Belonging in Nursing School (SBNS) scale, adapting it to the Turkish language and culture, and reporting the results. Methods: The study was conducted in a nursing faculty between March and July 2023. The study sample comprised 193 nursing students. We performed the content validity assessment of the 19-item SBNS scale after conducting a structural validity analysis using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The Cronbach's alpha and item-total score correlations were examined to assess the scale's internal consistency. Results: The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy for the SBNS instrument was 0.903, and the result of Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (χ² = 3182.764, p = 0.000), indicating that the scale was suitable for factor analysis. The eigenvalue analysis identified a four-factor structure explaining 76.74% of the total variance. These four factors were subsequently named as follows: (1) clinical compliance, (2) social belonging, (3) school support, and (4) clinical support. The goodness-of-fit values for the model obtained from the CFA were χ²/SD = 2.15, comparative fit index = 0.947, goodness-of-fit index = 0.852, normed fit index = 0.906, incremental fit index = 0.948, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.077, suggesting that the model fit was acceptable, and the four-factor structure was well distributed. The scale exhibited high internal consistency (α = 0.933). Discussion: The SBNS scale is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the sense of belonging experienced by nursing students in three different environments. Further research is needed to establish its predictive validity. Conclusions and Implications for Nursing: This study was conducted, and there was no scale used in the Turkish literature to measure nursing students' sense of school belonging; thus, it is the first in this sense.