Psychometric testing of the Norwegian version of the questionnaire, student satisfaction and self-confidence in learning, used in simulation

Abstract

Simulation is increasingly being used as an approach to learning in nurse education. There is a need for frameworks and valid evaluation tools to help guide educators in implementing the method. The questionnaire, Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning, which consists of two subscales, has been developed by the National League for Nursing in the US for evaluating simulation used in nurse education. The aim of the present study was to test the questionnaire, Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning, for psychometric properties in a Norwegian nurse education context. A sample consisting of 130 nursing students participated in a simulation situation, and 123 responded. When the questionnaire was tested in its entirety, psychometric testing conducted with a principal component analysis did not reveal a stable factor solution. The two subscales were then tested separately. The analysis for Satisfaction with Current Learning suggested a one-component solution, thereby explaining 62.8% of the variance, and the internal reliability was 0.84. With regard to Self-Confidence in Learning, no stable solution was achieved, and an alpha value of 0.64 was shown. To further validate the questionnaire, Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning, more studies by various nursing programmes in different cultural contexts are recommended.

Keywords: Exploratory factor analysis; Human patient simulation; Nursing students; Student satisfaction.