The Turkish version of the Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation Tool: A validity and reliability study

Aim: To test the validity and reliability of the Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation Tool in Turkish, which was developed to evaluate the patient safety competencies of nursing students. Background: In nursing education, it is crucial to provide students with the necessary professional knowledge and skills as well as appropriate attitudes in certain subjects. It is essential to address frequently encountered problems, to train nurses who can be aware of patient safety and improve the quality of nursing education. A valid and reliable measurement tool is needed to evaluate nursing students' current patient safety knowledge, skills and attitudes and review the curriculum and learning objectives in this context. Design: This is a validation study with a cross-sectional design. Methods: The study sample consisted of 417 third and fourth-grade nursing students studying at two universities in Istanbul and volunteered to participate in the research. The study used the Turkish version of the Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation Tool was used for data collection. Content validity, construct validity, stability and reliability tests were performed. Data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS programs. Ethics committee approval and permission from the institutions were obtained. Results: Nursing students' mean age was 21.98 (SD = 1.17). The Scope Validity Index of the scale was calculated as 0.97. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis performed in the original structure consisting of three dimensions, 12 factors and 41 items, it was found that all items were in the sub-dimensions of the original scale and factor loads were between 0.168 and 0.918. Four models were tested in confirmatory factor analysis and Model 4 had the best-fit indices. They were calculated as: chi(2)/df = 2.38, RMSEA = 0.06 and CFI = 0.91 for Model 4. Cronbach's alpha value of the total scale was 0.941 and ranged between 0.642 and 0.932 in its sub-dimensions. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation Tool is valid and reliable to measure nursing students' patient safety competencies.