The first Arabic version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Scale: Psychometric evaluation.

AIM: We examined the validity and reliability of nursing activity levels of complexity in the first Arabic version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: Nurse executives need valid and reliable data on the scope and complexity of nursing practice to make decisions about cost-effective and safe deployment of the nursing workforce. We translated the English version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire into Arabic for use in Lebanon and the eastern Mediterranean region.

METHODS: Data were collected from a national sample of bedside nurses in Lebanon in which 3,157 questionnaires were returned for analysis. We used multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire levels of nursing complexity.

RESULTS: Multidimensional scaling analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of the Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis produced essentially the same fit statistics for the unidimensional model and three-dimensional models of item complexity.

CONCLUSION: The Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire is a valid and reliable unidimensional measure of nursing complexity.

IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse executives and hospital managers in Lebanon and the eastern Mediterranean region can use total and mean Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire scores as aids when making decisions about nursing workforce deployment.