Design and Psychometrics of the Managerial Practical Wisdom Scale in the Hospitals Affiliated to Inistry of Health and Medical Education in Iran

Background & objectives : After passing through the age of industry and information, to enter the age of wisdom, the need to pay attention and evaluate practical wisdom in hospital management, becomes more and more necessary; In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of creating a scientific scale to measure and evaluate practical wisdom in management in the hospitals of the Iran’ Ministry of Health. Methods: This qualitative-quantitative study was conducted based on content analysis technique on interviews with 21 hospital managers and professors of health care management. Data analysis and open and axial coding led to the identification of dimensions and components of wisdom. These components were used in designing the management practical wisdom measurement scale. The validity of the scale was confirmed by face, content and structural evaluation and its reliability by examining internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Results: The identified dimensions included three cognitive, managerial and personality dimensions and in total had 5 components that were used as the design criteria for the scale. After examining the face validity and content validity (CVR equal to 0.91 and CVI equal to 0.88), the questionnaires were distributed among 323 hospital managers and then internal consistency and reliability of the scale (Cronbach's total alpha equal to 0.84) were calculated. The correlation and significance of the relationships between the measures with each other and with the components of the scale (structural validity) were also analyzed, confirmed and validated based on confirmatory factor analysis using SPSS19 and LISREL software. Conclusion: The developed scale has good face, content and structural validity and good reliability and can be used to assess the current situation of practical wisdom in management in the managers of university hospitals in the country.