[Validity of a job stressors measurement scale in nursing staff: the nursing stress scale].
BACKGROUND
The aim of this work was to determine the reliability and construct validity of a scale intended to measure job stressors to which hospital nursing staff may be exposed.


METHODS
The nursing stress scale contains 34 stressors. The scale's trans-cultural adaptation was carried out by means of the translation-back translation method. Validation was conducted on a random sample of 201 health professionals in a public hospital in Valencia. The reliability of the scale was assessed after its readministration on a sub-sample of 30 nursing professionals, with a 15 day interval. The construct validity was obtained through the correlation of the scale with another two scales: The 28 item version of Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire and 7 dimensions of the Health questionnaire SF-36.


RESULTS
The scale in Spanish language contains 34 items after eliminating the first item from the original scale (N1: computer failure) and including a new item (E1: Frequent job interruptions). The distribution of scores obtained in the initial administration of the scale and fifteen days later do not differ statistically. The Cronbach's alfa coefficient is 0.92 for the total scale and in each of the sub-scales ranges between 0. 83 and 0.49. The correlation between the scale and the GHQ-28 items questionnaire is 0.34. For each one of the seven dimensions of the SF-36 questionnaire the correlations range between -0.21 and -0.31.


CONCLUSIONS
The nursing stress scale is a useful instrument for measuring possible stressors in this collective. It has high internal consistency and construct validity, as does the original American version, however reliability is moderate.
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Institut Valencià d'Estudis en Salut Pública (IVESP), Conselleria de Sanitat, Valencia, 46017, España. vescriba@san.gva.es
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D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D017144:Focus Groups; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload