Development of the Nursing Practice Readiness Scale for new graduate nurses: A methodological study

Aim: To develop a scale to assess nursing practice readiness and verify its validity and reliability. Background: Practice readiness refers to the attitude and characteristics of new employees that enable them to successfully adapt to the workplace. For new graduate nurses to receive on-the-job training appropriate to their individual competency level, a scale to assess nursing practice readiness is needed. Design: A methodological study was conducted in two phases: (1) development of the scale through a literature review and interviews related to nursing practice readiness; (2) confirming construct validity, criterion-related validity and reliability of the developed scale. Methods: Data were collected from 430 new graduate nurses in South Korea. The validity and reliability of the scale were verified using maximum likelihood exploratory factor analysis with promax factor rotation, confirmatory factor analysis using maximum likelihood estimation, Pearson correlation, analysis of variance and Cronbach's alpha. Results: The Nursing Practice Readiness Scale consisted of 35 items for five factors: clinical judgment and nursing performance, professional attitudes, patient-centeredness, self-regulation and collaborative interpersonal relationship. Confirmatory factor analysis results revealed an adequate model fit. Construct validity and criterion-related validity were verified and all factors achieved a Cronbach's α greater than 0.80. Conclusions: The developed scale can evaluate educational outcomes and determine the need for additional support, which can improve the workplace adaptation of new graduate nurses, patient safety and quality of care.