Validity and Reliability of the New Innovation Culture Scale© for Use in Healthcare Settings

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• American healthcare faces challenges with high costs and suboptimal patient outcomes.
• Nurses are key to driving innovation and improving care quality.
• A supportive organizational culture is essential for fostering innovation in healthcare, but measurement tools are lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed 10-item Innovation Culture Scale©.
• To establish the validity and reliability of the scale for use in healthcare settings.

Main Methods:

• A convenience sample of 5658 healthcare professionals (nurses, physicians, allied health) from a Northeastern health system participated.
• Digital survey responses were analyzed using item correlations, scree plot, and confirmatory factor analysis to assess internal structure and model fit.
• 216 participants completed the scale, with data analyzed for psychometric properties.

Main Results:

• Item correlations were positive and statistically significant (P < 0.001).
• Scree plot analysis indicated a single-factor structure.
• Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable model fit with a comparative fit index of 0.935 and Tucker-Lewis index of 0.916.
• Cronbach's alpha was 0.94, indicating high internal consistency.

Conclusions:

• The 10-item Innovation Culture Scale© demonstrates strong psychometric properties.
• The scale is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing innovation culture within healthcare organizations.
• This tool can aid in identifying areas for improvement and fostering a culture of innovation to enhance healthcare quality.