title: Developing a short version of the test anxiety scale for baccalaureate nursing skills test--a preliminary study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this study, a brief and rapid skills test anxiety scale was developed to measure nursing students' anxiety before their first skills assessment test, and the measurement results were assessed using factor analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey questionnaire design was used to gather cross-sectional data for the scale. The study subjects comprised 250 first-year bachelors of nursing students who completed a test anxiety survey before taking their first nursing skills test. This questionnaire evaluated first-year baccalaureate students' anxiety associated with applying nursing skills.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that students were most anxious about the attitudes of the teachers proctoring the tests (94.6%), followed by the test atmosphere (92.2%). These 2 items were determined to be conducive to high anxiety and were statistically correlated. Exploratory analysis was used to extract 2 common factors, nonspecific information and test atmosphere. Meanwhile, factor loadings were 19.45% and 50.41%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study evaluated the validity and reliability of the proposed scale. The evidence-based results presented in this investigation provide teachers with a crucial reference for helping students reduce their anxiety before their first skills assessment test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taiwan. Electronic address: rea@ntunhs.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Rea-Jeng
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taiwan. Electronic address: yuyin@ntunhs.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yu-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taiwan. Electronic address: mlchuang@ntunhs.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Mei-Ling
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, College of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taiwan. Electronic address: linda@ntunhs.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shu-Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013732:Test Anxiety Scale; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Exploratory factor analysis; Nursing; Nursing skills test; Test anxiety