Confirmation of an instrument monitoring quality of nursing student accompaniment

Abstract

Background: The quality of support provided by preceptors should be optimal to develop students’ competence. We describe the validation of the measuring instrument to monitor support offered by preceptors during their accompaniment. Method: A quantitative survey design was used to validate the self-administered instrument. A sample of 346 s- and third-year undergraduate nursing students at two higher education nursing institutions provided 930 assessments of preceptor support, 750 which contained no missing data and were used for the analysis. Descriptive data analysis was conducted to determine the reliability and validity. Results: The Cronbach alpha coefficient showed high reliability (0.98) overall and for each subscale (0.95–0.97). The confirmatory factor analysis showed good fit (RMSEA = 0.057) with items measuring various elements of support loading strongly on their respective latent variables. Conclusion: The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the instrument as fit for purpose to monitor preceptor support, specifically system, cognitive and emotional support.

Keywords

• Cognitive support
• Emotional support
• Nursing preceptors
• Reliability
• System support
• Validity