Development and psychometric evaluation of the Professional Practice Environment (PPE) scale.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the Professional Practice Environment (PPE) scale, its conceptual development and psychometric evaluation, and its uses in measuring eight characteristics of the professional practice environment in an acute care setting.


METHODS
The 38-item PPE Scale was validated on a sample of 849 professional practice staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Psychometric analysis included: item analysis, principal components analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization, and internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient.


RESULTS
Eight components were shown, confirming the original conceptually derived model's structure and accounting for 61% of explained variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the eight PPE subscales ranged from .78 to .88.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings showed the 38-item PPE Scale was reliable and valid for use in health outcomes research to examine the professional practice environment of staff working in acute care settings.
Erickson
Jeanette Ives
JI
Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114, USA. jiveserickson@partners.org
Duffy
Mary E
ME
Gibbons
M Patricia
MP
Fitzmaurice
Joan
J
Ditomassi
Marianne
M
Jones
Dorothy
D
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001900:Boston; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D011340:Problem Solving; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000592:standards; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*