Initial Psychometric Evaluation of the Nursing Quality and Safety Self-Inventory

Abstract

Few instruments are available to measure nursing students' quality and safety competencies. The authors developed and tested the psychometric properties of the Nursing Quality and Safety Self-Inventory (NQSSI), an 18-item, self-rated instrument to measure nursing students' quality and safety knowledge, skills, and attitudes. All pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students (N = 176) enrolled in a leadership and management course at a midwestern school of nursing completed the self-inventory. Construct validity was established with exploratory factor analysis using principal axis factoring with direct oblimin rotation. The instrument was found to be composed of two subscales, knowledge and attitudes, which explained 53.8% of total variance. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.93 for the total inventory and ranged from 0.88 to 0.92 for the two subscales. Contrast validity and effectiveness of the NQSSI for measuring nursing students' self-rated quality and safety competencies was supported.