Development and content validity of the new version of a patient classification instrument

Marcia Galan Perroca

doi:10.1590/s0104-11692011000100009

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to reconstruct Perroca's patient classification instrument; and to assess the content validity of the new version. A group of experts comprising ten nurses appraised the instrument, using the Delphi technique. Data collection took place from March 2008 to February 2009 by means of structured questionnaires sent by electronic mail. The new version contained nine nursing care areas. Agreement levels on the instrument structure amounted to > 90%, and ranged between 80 and 96% in the nursing care areas. The refinement of classification instruments is of great importance to generate valid and reliable data, supporting management decision making on nursing care planning as well as nursing workload measurement.

Highlights

In recent years, the introduction of the evidencebased practice model and the importance of outcomes achievement in nursing services seems to have lead to the increasing use of management tools
This paper presents the initial phases of the process to develop and validate the new version of a Patient classification systems (PCS) and aims to: 1. Reconstruct Perroca’s patient classification instrument[5,6] and 2
The new version of the instrument was developed in two phases

Summary

Introduction

The introduction of the evidencebased practice model and the importance of outcomes achievement in nursing services seems to have lead to the increasing use of management tools. In response to this demand, researchers have attempted to develop specific instruments, cross-culturally adapt or improve existing ones, offering users valid and reliable scales. The validity concept relates to the extent to which it shows to be appropriate to measure what it is supposed to measure, in other words, the goal for which it is being used. Reliability refers to its degree of precision, that is, when its measures manage to precisely reflect the actual measures of the attribute under analysis[1].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion