Development and testing of the CALDs and CLES+T scales for international nursing students' clinical learning environments.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the new Cultural and Linguistic Diversity scale, which is designed to be used with the newly validated Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher scale for assessing international nursing students' clinical learning environments.


BACKGROUND
In various developed countries, clinical placements are known to present challenges in the professional development of international nursing students.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
Data were collected from eight Finnish universities of applied sciences offering nursing degree courses taught in English during 2015-2016. All the relevant students (N = 664) were invited and 50% chose to participate. Of the total data submitted by the participants, 28% were used for scale validation. The construct validity of the two scales was tested by exploratory factor analysis, while their validity with respect to convergence and discriminability was assessed using Spearman's correlation.


RESULTS
Construct validation of the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher scale yielded an eight-factor model with 34 items, while validation of the Cultural and Linguistic Diversity scale yielded a five-factor model with 21 items.


CONCLUSIONS
A new scale was developed to improve evidence-based mentorship of international nursing students in clinical learning environments. The instrument will be useful to educators seeking to identify factors that affect the learning of international students.
Research Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, University of Oulu, Finland.
Kristina
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4355-3428
K
Mikkonen
Research Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, University of Oulu, Finland.|Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Finland.
Satu
S
Elo
Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Finland.|Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Finland.
Jouko
J
Miettunen
Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Mikko
M
Saarikoski
Research Unit of Nursing Science and Health Management, University of Oulu, Finland.|Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Finland.
Maria
M
Kääriäinen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors; D008875:Middle Aged; D064700:Nurses, International / Q000193:education*; D011594:Psychometrics; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
clinical learning environment; cultural and linguistic diversity; instrument development; internationalism; nursing; nursing students; statistical testing; supervision