Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Nurses Professional Values Scale-3

Abstract

Background and purpose: The Nurses Professional Values Scale-3 (NPVS-3) is an instrument derived from the American Nurses Association Code designed to measure nurses' professional values. The purpose of this study was to examine its psychometric properties.

Methods: A random sample of 1,139 baccalaureate nursing students, graduate nursing students, and practicing nurses participated. The 28-item Likert-scale instrument was subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization resulted in a 3-factor solution.

Results: Findings supported internal consistency reliability of 3 factors with alpha coefficients from .80 to .91 and total scale coefficient of .94. Construct validity was supported with a factor loading range of .31-.95 across 3 factors-Caring, Activism, Professionalism.

Conclusion: NPVS-3 is a psychometrically sound instrument that can be used by nursing researchers, educators, administrators, and practitioners.