An assessment of the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale for nursing interns: A cross-cultural adaptation of scales and online investigation

Abstract

Aim: The Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale is a tool for evaluating the attitudes of medical staff toward reporting adverse events in clinical practice. This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale translated into Chinese used with trainee nurses in mainland China.

Design: The Chinese version of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale was developed following guidelines for the cross-cultural adaptation of self-reporting measures.

Methods: The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale was tested on 773 nursing interns by online investigation. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on 350 questionnaires completed by the participants while exploratory factor analysis was performed on 423 questionnaires to test the structural validity of the scale.

Results: There were 23 items included in the Chinese version of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale. The Cronbach's α-coefficient for the internal consistency of the total score was found to be 0.84 with a test-retest reliability value of 0.82, indicating a high level of reliability. Five common factors were extracted. The structural validity on the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test was 0.87 and the contribution rate of cumulative variance was 58.51%. The content validity values ranged between 0.86 and 1.00.

Conclusion: The Chinese version of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale is a valid and reliable tool for evaluating nursing interns' attitudes toward reporting clinical adverse events in China. This validation of the Chinese version of the scale also extends the use of the scale to a different population.

Tweetable abstract: Nursing interns are responsible for a relatively high incidence of adverse events and their attitude to reporting these is crucial to patient safety. The Chinese version of the Reporting of Clinical Adverse Events Scale will be helpful for evaluating the reporting attitude of nursing interns.

Keywords: adverse events; cross-cultural adaptation; nursing interns; reporting attitude.