Designing and psychometric evaluation of a checklist for surgical dressing skills in nursing students

Background

Wound care is one of the most important and challenging issues in nursing and medicine. Considering that the knowledge of surgical dressing skills in nursing students can play a significant role in the quality of the education process and students' progress in the future

Aim

This study aimed to design and psychometrically evaluate the surgical dressing skill checklist in nursing students.

Methods

This study used a methodological research design and was conducted in a western city of Iran. It was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, checklist items were derived from the extant literature on surgical dressings. In the second stage, the psychometric characteristics of the checklist were examined using face validity, content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency. Participants were selected using the Census method. Data were analyzed using SPSS software _{v 22}.

Results

Based on the literature on surgical dressings, a preliminary checklist consisting of 31 items was initially extracted. After determining the content and face validity using quantitative and qualitative methods, the checklist comprised 21 items in total. According to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), eight factors were identified. These eight factors explained 69.02 % of the total variance of the test. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.81, indicating the high internal consistency of the checklist.

Conclusion

The 21-item checklist for assessing nursing students' surgical dressings skills, with features such as simple scoring, appropriate reliability and validity, and applicability/usability, can be considered a suitable tool for evaluating students' surgical dressings skills.