Development and Psychometric Properties of Ethical Competence Questionnaire for Nursing Students

Abstract

Background and Aims

Existing tools for measuring ethical competence in nursing students have limitations, often failing to comprehensively assess the general concept and are frequently developed for practicing nurses, limiting their applicability to students. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically evaluate an ethical competence tool specifically designed for nursing students.

Method

This methodological study employed an instrument-development approach. The process involved developing an ethical competence measure for nursing students followed by a thorough psychometric evaluation. The tool's psychometric properties were assessed using face, content, and construct validity, as well as reliability through internal consistency and stability methods. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 27, JASP version 0.14, Microsoft Excel 2007, and Amos 25.

Results

A 26-item tool with two dimensions—“commitment to professional ethics and humanistic care” (19 items) and “interaction and cooperation in the clinical environment” (7 items)—was developed. The tool demonstrated excellent psychometric properties, explaining 68.427% of the total variance. Individual item factor loadings ranged from 0.549 to 0.875. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients for the total scale were 0.883 and 0.898, respectively, indicating high internal consistency. Test-retest reliability also yielded strong results, with the intracluster correlation coefficient calculated at 0.998 (95% CI: 0.995-0.999). The tool effectively captures key components of ethical competence in nursing students.

Conclusion

The newly developed tool provides a reliable and valid measure of ethical competence in nursing students. This study offers educational managers in the healthcare field a valuable resource for designing a system to assess ethical competence among Iranian nursing students.