Scale for the Environment Evaluation of Professional Nursing Practice: Construct validation

Aim Testing the validity and reliability of the Scale for the Environments Evaluation of Professional Nursing Practice (SEE‐Nursing Practice). Background The environment of professional nursing practice is key to achieve better results for clients, nurses and institutions. Therefore, instruments enabling the assessment of all its attributes are required. Method Cross‐sectional methodological study. The SEE‐Nursing Practice, based on a previous qualitative study and literature review, was applied as a questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess construct validity. Results A total of 752 nurses participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis of the SEE‐Nursing Practice led to a factor solution with 93 items and three subscales. The Structure, Process and Outcome subscales, respectively, have 43, 37 and 13 items, loaded in 6 factors, 6 factors and 2 factors and explaining 62.6%, 59.2% and 67.4% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha of the overall scale and of the 3 subscales was greater than 0.90. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit. Conclusion SEE‐Nursing Practice is a good valid and reliable instrument. Implications for nursing management The SEE‐Nursing Practice enables assessing practice environments and is a tool for nursing managers in the definition of strategies ensuring favourable environments for nursing care quality.