[The Reliability and Validity Examination of the Development Support Competency Scale for Nurses: Traditional Chinese...

The primary purpose of developmental care, the core requirement of premature infant care, is to provide a demand-central care model that reduces pressure in the environment to assist preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). While developmental care is the care aim of NICUs, no validated measures are currently available in Taiwan to evaluate the developmental care ability of nurses. To improve the quality of care provided to preterm infants and strengthen the on-the-job education received by nurses, the current status of relevant competencies in NICU nurses must be elucidated.

In this study, the original English version of the Developmental Support Competency Scale for Nurses (DSCS-N) developed by the Korean scholars Kim and Shin was translated into a Traditional Chinese version (DSCSN-TC) and evaluated for reliability and validity.

The DSCS-N was translated using the Brislin translation model and cross-cultural equivalence was reviewed using the Jones process. Content validity (including content relevance and item clarity) was subsequently verified. Reliability and validity were assessed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, item analysis, and internal consistency reliability.

Convenience sampling was used to enroll 153 nurses (N = 153) as participants, all of whom had worked for more than one year in a NICU at one of three medical centers. The 19-item DSCSN-TC has a total possible score range of 19 to 76. Content Validity Index, evaluated by eight experts, was .92. The mean total score was 64.91 (SD = 7.61). CFA confirmed a good fit for the six-factor structure: CFI = .935, TLI = .919, RMSEA = .063, and SRMR = .05. The Cronbach's alpha values for the six factors were: interaction (.717), critical thinking (.833), parental support (.676), professional development (.762), partnership (.784), and environmental support (.688). The overall Cronbach's alpha for the scale was .935.

The findings show the DSCSN-TC to be a reliable and valid measure when applied in either research or clinical settings to evaluate developmental care competency in nurses. Based on the preliminary testing results, the original instrument was further refined and evolved into a DSCSN-TC 2.0 version with the aim of providing an even more precise assessment of the developmental supportive care competence of nursing staff.