Abstract
Health professions use a preceptorship model for clinical education. Numerous studies have evaluated barriers and facilitators to nurse practitioner (NP) preceptorship. However, few used theory-guided, psychometrically-sound, survey instruments. My purpose was to develop and test validity and reliability of a preceptorship survey, using the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) as a framework. I developed a pool of 82 survey items that reflected 11 constructs in the IBM from published literature and unpublished research findings. Eight faculty and 12 NP preceptors evaluated content-validity and clarity of the items, and one item was removed. The survey was deployed to a sample of 125 NPs and scale reduction techniques were used to condense the instrument to 60 items, with Cronbach’s alpha (α) for subscales ranging from 0.725 to 0.944. The online survey was deployed to a national sample of NPs, with 1295 valid responses. A subset of 154 participants repeated the survey after 2 – 4 weeks to evaluate temporal stability of responses (test-retest reliability) using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Upon completion of data collection, I used exploratory factor analysis to isolate 11 factors that mirrored the constructs in the IBM. I used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate average variance extracted (AVE), average shared variance (ASV), and maximum shared variance (MSV) of the subscales and further refine the survey instrument. The final survey instrument consists of 41 items and 11 subscales. Subscales have acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.707-0.937), discriminant validity (ASV < AVE and MSV < AVE), and test-retest reliability (α of ICC = 0.739 – 0.908). All but one subscale has acceptable convergent validity (AVE > .5). The resulting survey instrument is psychometrically-sound and could be adapted for other nursing roles and professions.
Notes
References:
DeClerk L, Chasteen S, Wells C, Baxter J, Rojo M. To precept or not to precept: Perspectives from nurse practitioners. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. Published online September 10, 2024. doi:10.1097/JXX.0000000000001071
DeClerk L, Lefler L, Nagel C, Mitchell A, Rojo M, Sparbel K. Why don't all nurse practitioners precept? A comparative study. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2021;34(4):668-682. Published 2021 Dec 29. doi:10.1097/JXX.0000000000000680
DeVellis R. Scale development: Theory and applications. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2017.
Sigma Membership
Gamma Xi at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Instrument and Tool Development, Precepting, Theory, Preceptorship
Recommended Citation
DeClerk, Leonie, "Valid and Reliable? Psychometric Evaluation of a Preceptorship Survey" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 257.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/257
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Valid and Reliable? Psychometric Evaluation of a Preceptorship Survey
Seattle, Washington, USA
Health professions use a preceptorship model for clinical education. Numerous studies have evaluated barriers and facilitators to nurse practitioner (NP) preceptorship. However, few used theory-guided, psychometrically-sound, survey instruments. My purpose was to develop and test validity and reliability of a preceptorship survey, using the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) as a framework. I developed a pool of 82 survey items that reflected 11 constructs in the IBM from published literature and unpublished research findings. Eight faculty and 12 NP preceptors evaluated content-validity and clarity of the items, and one item was removed. The survey was deployed to a sample of 125 NPs and scale reduction techniques were used to condense the instrument to 60 items, with Cronbach’s alpha (α) for subscales ranging from 0.725 to 0.944. The online survey was deployed to a national sample of NPs, with 1295 valid responses. A subset of 154 participants repeated the survey after 2 – 4 weeks to evaluate temporal stability of responses (test-retest reliability) using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Upon completion of data collection, I used exploratory factor analysis to isolate 11 factors that mirrored the constructs in the IBM. I used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate average variance extracted (AVE), average shared variance (ASV), and maximum shared variance (MSV) of the subscales and further refine the survey instrument. The final survey instrument consists of 41 items and 11 subscales. Subscales have acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.707-0.937), discriminant validity (ASV < AVE and MSV < AVE), and test-retest reliability (α of ICC = 0.739 – 0.908). All but one subscale has acceptable convergent validity (AVE > .5). The resulting survey instrument is psychometrically-sound and could be adapted for other nursing roles and professions.
Description
The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a nurse practitioner preceptorship survey instrument, guided by the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM). I used established procedures to develop, refine, and evaluate the instrument. The final instrument included 11 subscales that reflect constructs in the IBM. Subscales have adequate construct, discriminant, and convergent validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency. The instrument could be adapted for other nursing roles.