Development and Validation of the Professional Self-Concept Scale for Hospital Nurses (PSCS-HN)

Professional self-concept (PSC) has a positive influence on the attitudes and behaviors of members of an organization toward their work. Although establishing PSC is vital for nurses to provide quality nursing care, assessing PSC precisely in ever-changing healthcare environments can be challenging. This methodological study involved the development of a new instrument, the Professional Self-Concept Scale for Hospital Nurses (PSCS-HN) and evaluation of its validity and reliability. The scale development phase involved the development of preliminary items based on a literature review and focus group interviews, followed by primary and secondary content validation by an expert panel. In the scale evaluation phase, a survey of 440 nurses working in general hospitals was conducted to examine scale validity and reliability. Construct validity was evaluated through item, exploratory factor, and confirmatory factor analyses, which resulted in a final scale with five factors and 23 items. Concurrent and convergent validity of the PSCS-HN were confirmed by significant correlation coefficients of the scale with existing instruments. Regarding reliability, in this study, the Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's ω of the PSCS-HN were 0.93 and 0.95, respectively. The results confirm that the PSCS-HN is a valid and reliable scale to assess hospital nurses' PSC.