Holistic nursing competence scale: Turkish translation and psychometric testing

Aim This study aimed to culturally adapt and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Holistic Nursing Competence Scale for application in the Turkish context. Background Nurses are expected to assess well-being of individuals by considering physical, social, psychological, cultural and spiritual dimensions to enhance adaptation to diseases. In Turkey, no tools have been developed to date for the evaluation of competencies in holistic nursing in the country. Methods The study was conducted with 288 nurses working in two hospitals in Ankara equipped with over 500 beds. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed in order to identify whether the items and the sub-dimensions of the adapted scale complied with the original structure comprising 36 items and five sub-scales, namely 'general aptitude', 'staff education and management', 'ethically oriented practice', 'nursing care in a team' and 'professional development'. Cronbach's alpha value was used as an estimate for reliability analysis. Results Opinions of 11 experts were obtained for content validation of the scale, and the content validity index was 0.90. The adaptation was observed to be acceptable on the basis of structural equation model fit indices in confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha value was estimated to be 0.97 and 0.90, respectively, for the complete scale. Conclusion The study identified the Turkish version of Holistic Nursing Competence Scale as a valid and reliable tool for the evaluation of competence in holistic nursing among nurses. Implications for nursing and nursing policy The instrument may now be utilized as a tool of measurement in nursing practice, as well as in education and research, for identifying the level of competence in the holistic nursing practices among the nurses in Turkey.