Health Assessment Tool for Undergraduate Nursing Students and Novice Instructors; Validity, Reliability and User Satisfaction

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Available tools for health assessment course lack guidance to novice instructors, detailed performance checklists, and domain-specific information that takes into consideration the limited health experience and tight schedule of undergraduate nursing students. The researcher developed a health assessment tool, including student’s manual and instructor’s guide to help both students and novice instructors. OBJECTIVES: To assess the validity and reliability of the newly developed tool and to measure tool-related satisfaction among recently graduated nursing students and novice instructors. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was utilized in 2014. Face and content validity were assessed by experts (N=21). The reliability was examined by comparing the students’ marks (N=63) for health assessment skills, as assessed by two different experienced raters. The satisfactions of both students and novice instructors (N=7) were measured using two-different questionnaires that covered different aspects of the relevant manual. RESULTS: Experts had 90.8% positive score for face and content validity for the tool including laboratory evaluation. The tool was highly reliable in assessing of students’ skills during laboratory evaluation, with intraclass correlation of 0.99. Both students and novice instructors had high satisfaction level with their respective version of the tool (83% versus 91%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The developed tool for health assessment course is highly valid, reliable, and satisfying both student and instructor expectations. Future studies are required to examine the effectiveness of the newly developed tool in improving the health assessment skills of the students and to assess how much of these skills are actually retained and practiced after clinical placement.

Keywords: Health Assessment, manual, undergraduate education, Nursing, Validity, Saudi Arabia