nursingmanagement.org

Volume 12 Issue 1

Improving Nursing Assessment in Adult Hospitalization Units: A Secondary Analysis

Irene Llagostera-Reverter,David Luna-Aleixos,María Jesús Valero-Chillerón,Rafael Martínez-Gonzálbez,Gema Mecho-Montoliu andVíctor M. González-Chordá
1Unit Care to the Person, Local Healthcare Authority Rome 2, 00159 Rome, Italy
2Health Professions Research and Development Unit, IRCCS San Donato Hospital, San Donato Milanese, 20097 Milano, Italy
3Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, 20133 Milano, Italy
4Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98100 Messina, Italy
5Department of Biomedical Sciences, Catholic University “Our Lady of Good Counsel”, 1000 Tirana, Albania
6INAIL Istituto Nazionale per L’assicurazione Contro Gli Infortuni sul Lavoro, 00192 Rome, Italy
7Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialities, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Abstract

Nurse managers play a vital role in healthcare organizations, wielding the ability to substantially enhance work environments, foster nurses’ autonomy, and bolster retention within workplaces. In this context, this study focuses on the Nurse Manager Actions scale, aiming to evaluate its items’ scalability as well as the scale’s validity and reliability among nurses and nurse managers operating within the Italian healthcare context. The study protocol was not registered. To ensure linguistic and cultural alignment, an iterative and collaborative translation process was undertaken. Subsequently, a multi-center cross-sectional design was adopted. Using a web-survey approach, data were collected among 683 nurses and 188 nurse managers between August 2022 and January 2023. The Nurse Manager Actions scale was found to be a valid and reliable instrument in Italian after a Mokken Scale Analysis. For nurses (HT = 0.630, Molenaar–Sijtsma rho = 0.890), the scale included 6 items, while 11 items were confirmed for nurse managers (HT = 0.620, Molenaar–Sijtsma rho = 0.830). Nurse Manager Actions scale scores were correlated with increased satisfaction and decreased intention to leave for both nurses and nurse managers. The employed validation process enhanced the scale validity for use in Italy and provided a model for other researchers to follow when assessing similar measures in different populations. Measuring and empowering nurse manager actions in work contexts is essential to improve the general well-being and retention of nurses, especially in the current nursing shortage.
Keywords: NMA scale; autonomy; Mokken scale analysis; psychometric testing; nurses