title: Psychometric analysis of two new scales: the evidence-based practice nursing leadership and work environment scales.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Those in nursing have been charged with practicing to the full extent of their education and training by the Institute of Medicine. Therefore, evidence-based practice (EBP) has never been more important to nursing than in the current healthcare environment. Frequently the burden of EBP is the responsibility of the bedside practitioner, but has been found to be a process that requires leadership and organizational support. A key underlying component of a strong EBP environment includes effective communications and collaboration among staff and nursing leadership.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Developing measurement tools that examine the milieu and nursing leadership in which the staff nurse practices is an important component of understanding the factors that support or hinder EBP. The aim of this study is to report on the development and analysis of two new scales designed to explore leadership and organizational support for EBP. The EBP Nursing Leadership Scale (10 items) examines the staff nurses perception of support provided by the nurse manager for EBP, and the EBP Work Environment Scale (8 items) examines organizational support for EBP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Staff nurses who worked at least .5 FTE in direct patient care, from two inner city hospitals (n = 422) completed the scales. The scales were evaluated for internal consistency reliability with the Cronbach alpha technique, content validity using a panel of experts, and construct validity by
  
  
  RESULTS
  The content validity index computed from expert rankings was .78 to 1.0 with an average of.96. Cronbach's alpha was .96 (n = 422) for the EBP Nursing Leadership Scale and .86 (n = 422) for the EBP Work Environment Scale. Factor analysis confirmed that each scale measured a unidimensional construct (p < .000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The EBP Nursing Leadership Scale and the EBP Work Environment Scale are psychometrically sound instruments to examine organizational influences on EBP.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Associate Director of BSN Program, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Yvette
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pryse
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McDaniel
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schafer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D015279:Organizational Culture; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration*
keywords: evidence-based nursing; evidence-based practice; measurement; nursing leadership; nursing organizational culture; reliability; validity