Assessment of reliability and validity of original questionnaire to evaluate knowledge of and attitudes towards extending professional powers of nurses and midwives with respect to independent prescription of certain drugs, writing out prescriptions, and referring for diagnostic tests – preliminary report

Abstract

Abstract Aim of the study. Starting on January 1, 2016, nurses and midwives (NM) acquire extending the professional powers. Assessing the reliability and validity of a questionnaire developed to evaluate the knowledge of and attitudes towards acquiring extending the professional powers of NM. Material and methodology. Forty-two students, voluntary, anonymous, original questionnaire study, 11 questions (knowledge) and 32 statements (attitudes), the Likert scale. Results. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient (α>0.70). Assessment of validity: indirect estimation of theoretical validity by identifying an internal correlation on the scale. Assessment of differences between the students: Kruskal-Wallis test, α=0.05, 11 knowledge-related questions - the easiness: 0.52, the mean differentiating power of 0.21. Cronbach’s alpha: 0.671. The subscale 1 comprising 26 statements underwent a factor analysis with two variables. The structure of subscale 2 (6 items) is uniform. The comparative analysis of students does not show differences by their majors (Kruskal-Wallis test). Conclusion. Assessment of reliability and validity of the questionnaire has demonstrated that it is a proper tool to evaluate attitudes towards extending professional powers of NM. Assessment of the questionnaire has confirmed that there is a need to modify the knowledge-related questions. The study should be continued among a greater number of NM that would be more diverse.