Psychometric analysis of the Nurses’ Professional Values Scale‐3 Arabic version among student nurses

Abstract

Aims We sought to establish the psychometric properties of the Nurses’ Professional Values Scale‐3 Arabic version among student nurses. Background Nurses’ professional values are central in the nursing profession; it encompasses principles such as respecting people rights and dignity, compassion, and caring without prejudice. Introduction The professional values of student nurses, most specifically in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, can hardly be studied due of the lack of a valid and reliable measure that is linguistically and culturally acceptable. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, we came up with the Arabic version of the tool and tested its psychometric properties among 350 student nurses from two universities in Saudi Arabia. Results The principal component analysis revealed three distinct factors with eigenvalues above 1.00 and with an explained variance of 70.5%. The computed Cronbach’s alpha of the tool was 0.967, while 0.964, 0.960, and 0.886 were computed for activism, caring, and professionalism, respectively. The test‐retest scores (n = 85) revealed an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.827 for the entire scale, 0.826 for the subscale activism, 0.792 for caring, and 0.870 for professionalism. Conclusions The Nurses’ Professional Values Scale‐3 Arabic version had sound psychometric properties when used among Saudi student nurses. Implication for Nursing The tool can provide an accurate assessment of the professional values of Saudi nursing students and other Arabic‐speaking student nurses. Implication for Nursing Policy The tool can be utilized by nursing and nursing education policymakers in Saudi Arabia and in other Arab countries in guiding the creation of practice and education policies that gears towards improving nurses’ professional values in this part of the world.