Tool Development and Testing: An Objective Measurement of Medication Administration Competency.
Ginger Schroers1, Jill Pfieffer
1About the Authors Ginger Schroers, PhD, RN, CNE, is an assistant professor, Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois. Jill Pfieffer, MSN, RN, is an instructor, Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing. For more information, contact Dr. Schroers at gschroers@luc.edu.
Nursing Education Perspectives
|August 19, 2025
Summary
The Objective Medication Administration Tool (OMAT©) was developed to objectively assess nurses' medication administration skills. The OMAT demonstrates strong preliminary validity and reliability for educational and assessment purposes.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Healthcare Simulation
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Nurses play a critical role in safe medication administration.
- Objective assessment tools are needed for evaluating nursing skills.
- Existing methods may lack standardization or objectivity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and describe the development of the Objective Medication Administration Tool (OMAT©).
- To evaluate the content validity and interrater reliability of the OMAT.
- To provide an objective measure for assessing nursing medication administration competency.
Main Methods:
- The OMAT was developed using evidence-based standards and a theoretical model.
- Content validity was assessed by thirteen subject matter experts.
- Interrater reliability was established using five trained raters and Cohen's kappa statistic.
Main Results:
- The OMAT achieved high content validity, with item content validity indexes ranging from .89 to 1.0.
- The overall scale content validity average was .98.
- Interrater reliability was excellent, with Cohen kappa values ranging from .89 to .98.
Conclusions:
- The Objective Medication Administration Tool (OMAT©) shows promising preliminary validity and reliability.
- The OMAT can serve as an objective tool for educators to assess nursing students' medication administration skills.
- Further research is warranted to confirm the OMAT's utility in diverse educational and clinical settings.
