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The development and psychometric validation of the Ethical Awareness Scale
Author(s) -
Milliken Aimee,
Ludlow Larry,
DeSantoMadeya Susan,
Grace Pamela
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/jan.13688
Subject(s) - rasch model , respondent , psychology , scale (ratio) , construct validity , debriefing , construct (python library) , psychometrics , nursing , applied psychology , social psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , developmental psychology , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , political science , law , programming language
Aim To develop and psychometrically assess the Ethical Awareness Scale using Rasch measurement principles and a Rasch item response theory model. Background Critical care nurses must be equipped to provide good (ethical) patient care. This requires ethical awareness, which involves recognizing the ethical implications of all nursing actions. Ethical awareness is imperative in successfully addressing patient needs. Evidence suggests that the ethical import of everyday issues may often go unnoticed by nurses in practice. Assessing nurses’ ethical awareness is a necessary first step in preparing nurses to identify and manage ethical issues in the highly dynamic critical care environment. Design A cross‐sectional design was used in two phases of instrument development. Method Using Rasch principles, an item bank representing nursing actions was developed (33 items). Content validity testing was performed. Eighteen items were selected for face validity testing. Two rounds of operational testing were performed with critical care nurses in Boston between February–April 2017. Results A Rasch analysis suggests sufficient item invariance across samples and sufficient construct validity. The analysis further demonstrates a progression of items uniformly along a hierarchical continuum; items that match respondent ability levels; response categories that are sufficiently used; and adequate internal consistency. Mean ethical awareness scores were in the low/moderate range. Conclusion The results suggest the Ethical Awareness Scale is a psychometrically sound, reliable and valid measure of ethical awareness in critical care nurses.