Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Chinese Version of the Authentic Nurse Leadership Questionnaire

Aims. To adapt the Authentic Nurse Leadership Questionnaire (ANLQ) to the Chinese cultural context and evaluate its psychometric properties. Background. Authenticity serves as a pivotal factor in the dynamic interaction between nurse leaders and nurse staff, exerting a profound influence on the growth of nurse individuals, healthcare teams, and organizations. However, there is still a dearth of research instruments to assess nurses' perception of authentic leadership in China. Methods. After authorization from the original author and technical support had been secured, a systematic process of initial translation, back translation, expert panel review, and pretesting was employed to ensure cross-cultural adaptation in accordance with established guidelines. A two-stage study design was implemented. In stage 1, 189 nurses were sampled for psychometric validation, during which the internal consistency reliability, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability were tested and exploratory factor analysis was performed. In stage 2, 255 nurses were sampled for confirmatory factor analysis and assessment of convergent and discriminant validity, to further validate the constructs. Results. In stage 1, the validated instrument showed a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.973, a split-half coefficient of 0.888, and a test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.912. The exploratory factor analysis extracted five dimensions that accounted for 82.629% of the overall variance. The findings in stage 2 showed that the observed data were well fitted to the five-factor theoretical model, with acceptable levels of convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusions. The Chinese version of the ANLQ demonstrated appropriate psychometric properties, as evidenced by its good reliability and validity. Implications for Nursing Management. This study offers nurse administrators and executives a valuable instrument, enabling them to establish leadership evaluation criteria, conduct nurse leader performance appraisals, and assist in selecting new nurse leaders. Ultimately, this contributes to the cultivation and development of exceptional managers capable of providing positive leadership to their followers.