Psychometric validation of the nursing care behavior questionnaire during emerging disease epidemics: A theory of planned behavior approach

Afsaneh Raiesifar; Reyhaneh Maleki; Nasibeh Sharifi; Fatemeh Darabi; Sayyadi Hojjat

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25900

Psychometric validation of the nursing care behavior questionnaire during emerging disease epidemics: A theory of planned behavior approach

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 9;10(4):e25900. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25900. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Afsaneh Raiesifar¹, Reyhaneh Maleki¹, Nasibeh Sharifi², Fatemeh Darabi³, Sayyadi Hojjat⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
² Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
³ Department of Publice Health, Asadabad School of Medical Sciences, Asadabad Iran.
⁴ Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.

Abstract

Background and objective: The Covid-19 pandemic could compromise the quality of care by impacting nurses' intention to provide care. Hence, investigating nurses' behavioral intentions when caring for patients during epidemics is essential. This research aims to assess the psychometrics of the "Nursing Care Behavior in Epidemics of Emerging Diseases" questionnaire, based on the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 311 nurses working in Covid-19 wards of selected hospitals in Ilam City, all of whom were enrolled through a census in 2021. The questionnaire underwent initial translation from English to Persian, followed by evaluations of its face, content, and construct validities. The nursing caring behavior questionnaire, comprising 46 items, was designed to assess behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, control beliefs, behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and nurses' intentions to care for Covid-19 patients. Data were analyzed for face, content, and construct validity using the Theory of Planned Behavior and Pearson correlation. Reliability was determined by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient.

Results: The intention to care dimension demonstrated an inverse correlation with the behavioral attitude dimension (p < 0.001). The most robust correlations were observed between the following paired dimensions: behavioral attitude and perceived power (p < 0.001), subjective norms and intention to care (p < 0.001), perceived behavioral control and subjective norms (p < 0.001), care intention and behavioral beliefs (p < 0.001), behavioral beliefs and behavioral outcome evaluation (p < 0.001), and normative beliefs with motivation to comply (p = 0.001). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the instrument exceeded 0.75.

Conclusion: According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, the nursing care behavior questionnaire proved to be a valid and reliable tool for evaluating nurses' care behaviors amidst emerging disease epidemics.

Keywords: Emerging diseases; Item-response theory; Nurses; Psychometrics.