Reliability and validity of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) test for post-traumatic stress disorder in mental health nurses in Spain

Here we report the reliability and test/re-test validity of a Castillan version of the PCL-5 (PCL5-C) in mental health nurses. A sample of 52 consecutive nurses was recruited from two psychiatric hospitals and four psychiatrists units of general hospitals in Madrid, Spain. We detected high internal consistency for the study questionnaire at the test assessment (n = 52) and at retest 0.929 and 0.935, respectively, by total Cronbach's α. All of the items at test and re-test correlated with the total score. Reproducibility analysis showed excellent test/re-test reliability for the total score and each item. Based on our findings, we conclude that the PCL5-C is a valid and reliable questionnaire when applied among Spanish mental health nurses population. •PTSD is an exposure to direct experience of traumatic event.•PTSD is a problem for nursing staff in general and for mental health in particular.•PCL5-C is a valid and reliable questionnaire for mental health nurses.