Abstract
Background
Professionalism is a key trait connecting the nurse and patient, and Code of Professional Conduct, a professional legitimacy in considering nursing as a profession and an essential tool that facilitates nurse practice. This study aims to develop Nurse Professionalism Scale using the Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in India and test the psychometric properties.
Methods
A sample of 1054 registered nurses working in various work areas at different levels and sectors of health care was selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected through self-report from registered nurses and multi-source feedback from their supervisors and colleagues. A total of 830 self-reported data sets, 687 supervisor and 747 colleague responses were received. Following data cleaning, complete sets of 644 self-supervisor-colleague responses were used for analysis using exploratory factor analysis in SPSS version 25 and confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS 22.
Results
Reliability estimate for internal consistency of the 38 item scale was .910 (self report), .951 (supervisor feedback) and .952 (colleague feedback). Exploratory factor analysis using self-reports extracted five factors with 22 items at Eigen values > 1. Items with communalities ≥ .4 and factor loadings ≥ .5 were retained. Five factors explained total cumulative variance extracted at 51 percent and KMO value of .893 indicated sample adequacy. Bartlett Test of Sphericity was significant (χ2 = 3318, df = 231, p < .000). The factors are labelled with reference to the original code and higher factor loading. CFA using supervisors feedback (CMIN/DF = 2.938; GFI = .926, TLI = .927; CFI = .939 and RMSEA = .055) and colleagues feedback (CMIN/DF = 3.165; GFI = .921, TLI = .908; CFI = .923 and RMSEA = .058) yielded acceptable model fit indices confirming the psychometric properties.
Conclusions
The scale can be used as a tool to evaluate professionalism among nurses across different settings. Multisource feedback from stakeholders can also be considered as an effective method of gathering data on this construct.
Nurse Professionalism Scale: Development and Psychometric Evaluation