Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Jul 2022)
Development of the Nurse Occupational Stigma Scale
Abstract
Lu Yang,1 Shuangxin Zhang,1 Jiaqi Leng,2 Zhiguang Fan,2 Yi Luo1 1Department of Nursing, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun City, Jilin Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Education, Jilin International Studies University, Changchun City, Jilin Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zhiguang Fan, Department of Education, Jilin International Studies University, Jingyue Street 3658, Changchun City, Jilin Province, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 1 594-831-4623, Fax +86 431-84924101, Email [email protected]: Occupational stigma toward nurses exerts a negative impact on the physical and mental health and work performance of nurses. However, hitherto, there has been no quantitative instrument designed to assess occupational stigma toward nurses.Objective: The present study aimed to develop the Nurse Occupational Stigma Scale (NOSS) and test its reliability and validity in the Chinese context.Methods: The items of the scale were formed through the open-ended interview and literature review. A questionnaire survey was administered among 765 patients using NOSS and the Caring Behaviors Inventory (CBI-24).Results: In the initial questionnaire, a total of 21 items were developed, and 5 items were dropped for cross-loadings. The formal scale consists of 16 items divided into three dimensions of negative label, nurse-patient relationship, and devaluation and discrimination. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the three-factor model fitted well (χ2/df=2.635, RMSEA=0.064, RFI=0.926, CFI=0.962, NFI=0.941, IFI=0.953). The total scores of the NOSS and the scores of all dimensions were significantly negatively correlated with the scores of the CBI-24. The internal consistency coefficients of the scale and all dimensions were between 0.827– 0.920, and the split-half reliability coefficients were between 0.826– 0.942. The NOSS had the measurement invariance across gender.Conclusion: With its good reliability and validity, the NOSS can be an appropriate instrument for researchers to conduct studies about nurse occupational stigma.Keywords: nurse, occupational stigma, reliability, validity