Clinical assessment instruments validated for nursing practice in the Italian context: a systematic review of the literature.
OBJECTIVE
With the aim to identify the instruments validated for Italian nursing practice, a systematic review of the literature was undertaken.


RESULTS
A total of 101 instruments emerged. The majority (89; 88.1%) were developed in other countries; the remaining (14; 13.9%) were developed and validated in the Italian context. The instruments were developed to measure patient's problems (63/101; 62.4%), outcomes (27/101; 26.7%), risks (4/101; 4%) and others issues (7/101; 6.9%). The majority of participants involved in the validation processes were younger adults (49; 48.5%), older adults (40; 39.5%), children (4; 4%), adolescents (3; 3%), and children/adolescents (1; 1%). The instruments were structured primarily in the form of questionnaires (61; 60.4%), as a grid for direct observation (27; 26.7%) or in other forms (12; 11.9%). Among the 101 instruments emerged, there were 1 to 7 validation measures documented with on average 3.2 (95% CI 2.86-3.54) for each instrument.


CONCLUSIONS
Developing validation studies giving priority to those instruments widely adopted in the clinical nursing practice is recommended.
Scienze Infermieristiche, Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy. E-mail: alvisa.palese@uniud.it.
Alvisa
A
Palese
Alberta
A
Tameni
Elisa
E
Ambrosi
Silvia
S
Albanese
Marta
M
Barausse
Barbara
B
Benazzi
Stefano
S
De Togni
Roberta
R
Doro
Cristina
C
Eccher
Maurizio
M
Fattori
Paola
P
Franchini
Massimiliano
M
Girlanda
Dania
D
Gobbetti
Lorenza
L
Guarino
Renata
R
Lazzeri
Renzo
R
Moreale
Nicola
N
Ricci
Margherita
M
Venturini
Giulia
G
Villa
Emanuela
E
Zonzini
Luisa
L
Saiani
D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D009729:Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results