Modification and adaptation of the general self-efficacy scale to determine nursing students’ belief in their capability to care for older adults

Abstract

It is necessary to determine nursing students’ self-efficacy to care for person's 60 + years to identify opportunities and challenges to support, facilitate effective learning and performance, and enhance confidence in providing care for older adults. However, we did not find a validated survey instrument to determine self-efficacy to care for older adults. This paper aimed to describe the modification of the General Self-efficacy scale to the General Self-efficacy to Care for Older scale appropriate for the Africa context. A cross-sectional study was conducted with second- and third-year nursing students from two public Nursing and Midwifery Training Colleges in the northern and southern sectors of Ghana. The 13-item General Self-Efficacy Scale was expanded by adding 17 items specific to providing nursing care for older adults in acute care settings. Cognitive interviews were conducted to ensure the items added were understood by participants. The 30-items were tested using Exploratory Factor analysis. The mean age of participants was 21 years (SD = 3.73). More than half (54%) of the participants were female. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-factor model. Four items were removed due to low factors and cross-loadings on both factors. The remaining 26 items had fourteen items that loaded on Factor one and 12 items that loaded on Factor two. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient for the revised 26-item scale was 0.85 indicating good internal consistency. The modified scale is appropriate to examine nursing students’ self-efficacy to care for older adults in the African context.