Chinese Version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale for Clinical Nurses: A Translation and Psychometric Validation Study

Background: The global environment is continually changing; therefore, adaptability has become a crucial skill in most careers, including nursing. Career adaptability, which is essential to nurses’ career development, influences nurse retention. However, to the best of our knowledge, no suitable tool has been developed for assessing the career adaptability of clinical nurses in Taiwan.

Aim: To translate the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) into traditional Chinese and validate the psychometric properties of this Chinese version of the CAAS (named CAAS-C).

Methods: A two-phase cross-sectional study was conducted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 584 registered nurses from two teaching hospitals in Taiwan. The CAAS was translated in accordance with a modified version of Brislin’s guidelines, that is, through forward translation, back-translation, and expert committee review. Test–retest reliability, internal consistency, content validity, and construct validity were evaluated to assess the psychometric properties of the CAAS-C.

Results: The results revealed a content validity index value of 0.96. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed acceptable model fit. The test–retest reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.82), and the internal consistency of the CAAS-C was satisfactory (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.90–0.96).

Conclusions: The CAAS-C is a brief, valid, and reliable instrument for measuring the career adaptability of clinical nurses.

Implications for Nursing Management: The CAAS-C can be used to evaluate Taiwanese nurses’ career adaptability and develop effective strategies for improving nurses’ responsiveness to their rapidly changing work environments, which can improve adaptation and retention.