title: Understanding Interrater Reliability and Validity of Risk Assessment Tools Used to Predict Adverse Clinical Events.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article will describe how to assess interrater reliability and validity of risk assessment tools, using easy-to-follow formulas, and to provide calculations that demonstrate principles discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical nurse specialists should be able to identify risk assessment tools that provide high-quality interrater reliability and the highest validity for predicting true events of importance to clinical settings. Making best practice recommendations for assessment tool use is critical to high-quality patient care and safe practices that impact patient outcomes and nursing resources. Optimal risk assessment tool selection requires knowledge about interrater reliability and tool validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical nurse specialist will understand the reliability and validity issues associated with risk assessment tools, and be able to evaluate tools using basic calculations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Risk assessment tools are developed to objectively predict quality and safety events and ultimately reduce the risk of event occurrence through preventive interventions. To ensure high-quality tool use, clinical nurse specialists must critically assess tool properties. The better the tool's ability to predict adverse events, the more likely that event risk is mediated. Interrater reliability and validity assessment is relatively an easy skill to master and will result in better decisions when selecting or making recommendations for risk assessment tool use.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Senior Nurse Scientist, Office of Nursing Research and Innovation (Dr Siedlecki); and Associate Chief Nursing Officer, Office of Nursing Research and Innovation, and Clinical Nurse Specialist, Kaufman Center for Heart Failure (Dr Albert), Cleveland Clinic Health System, Ohio.
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Siedlecki
authors.forename: Nancy M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Albert
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009720:Nurse Clinicians; D015588:Observer Variation; D061214:Patient Safety; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment