title: Development of the Family Nurse Caring Belief Scale (FNCBS).
abstract: Measurement of family nursing practice phenomena needs particular attention. This study develops a new instrument, Family Nursing Caring Belief Scale (FNCBS), that measures nurse attitudes regarding provision of family-sensitive care to families in crisis and establishes initial psychometric properties. Classical test theory was used to construct a discriminative, summative instrument for measuring nurse attitudes. Internal consistency reliability in a randomly selected sample (N = 163) of pediatric intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit nurses was estimated at .81 (Cronbach's alpha) and .78 (Guttman split half). A four-factor structure was revealed: ethical caring practices, systems orientation to family, child advocacy, and normalizing milieu. The FNCBS demonstrated concurrent (r = .57) and criterion-related validities. The FNCBS demonstrated sound psychometric properties with a child-rearing population of families and has the potential for future use in family nursing research, education, and practice. It requires further assessment before testing with an adult population.
authors.affiliation: Minnesota State University, Mankato School of Nursing, Mankato, MN 56001, USA. sonja.meiers@ mnsu.edu
authors.forename: Sonja J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Meiers
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tomlinson
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peden-McAlpine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002651:Child Advocacy; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D003422:Critical Care; D004645:Empathy; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research / Q000379:methods*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013597:Systems Analysis; D014481:United States