The Nurse–Nurse Collaboration Behavior Scale: Development and psychometric testing

Abstract

Objective: To develop and test the reliability and validity of a new instrument, the Nurse–Nurse Collaboration Behavior Scale (NNCBS). Background: The importance of cooperation among nurses is widely acknowledged, but is a lack of scientific studies regarding the behaviorial interactions associated with nurse–nurse relationships throughout the process of patient-centered care. Therefore, there is a great need to develop a reliable scale to measure nurse–nurse collaboration behavior, which is what we have generated in this study. Methods: The 46-item Nurse–Nurse Collaboration Scale was developed using a process of item design, refinement, and testing for both reliability and validity. In 2014, the 202 nurses from the International Department of Services participated in this pilot study. Cronbach's a coefficients and test–retest reliability coefficients were calculated in order to evaluate this new scale's internal consistency and stability. Exploratory factor analysis was calculated using a principal factor method with promax rotation to evaluate the scale's validity. Results: Exploratory factor analysis yielded four factors and 23 items. The overall Cronbach's a coefficient of the scale was 0.929. The item-total correlation values were overall high, ranging from 0.427 to 0.751. For the entire scale, the r values of the test–retest reliability correlations were 0.764. Conclusion: The NNCB Scale developed in this study demonstrates acceptable reliability and validity for measuring the level of NNCB. Its implementration on a broader scale would at the very least guide and promote collaborative relationships between nurses involved in patient care. It should be noted that the scale requires further psychometric testing using a larger sample size of nurses who also represent a wider diversity of backgrounds, as well as researchers who are encouraged to improve the instrument.

Keywords

• Instrument development
• Nurse–Nurse Collaboration Scale
• Psychometric testing