Perception of Coercive Actions by Nurses Scale: Instrument Development Study.

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Psychiatry
• Healthcare Ethics

Background:

• Coercive practices are utilized by psychiatric nurses and care teams.
• These practices carry negative connotations and raise ethical concerns regarding patient safety.
• Existing tools for assessing perceptions of coercion may be insufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the psychometric properties of the Perception of Coercive Actions by Nurses Scale (PCANS).
• To validate a scale for measuring nurses' perceptions of coercive actions in psychiatric settings.

Main Methods:

• Content validity was established for the PCANS.
• Items were developed based on trauma-informed, informal, formal, and coercive threat types.
• Psychiatric nurses (N=213) completed a revised 23-item PCANS, followed by exploratory factor analysis.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis identified three subscales for the PCANS: trauma-informed, formal coercive, and coercive threat.
• The PCANS demonstrated potential as a psychometric tool for assessing perceptions of coercion.

Conclusions:

• The PCANS shows promise in evaluating nurses' perceptions of coercive actions.
• Further testing and validation of the PCANS are recommended.
• Emphasis on trauma-informed and caring practices in psychiatric nursing is crucial.