The development and psychometric evaluation of the Clinicians' Attitudes towards Responding and Escalating care of Deteriorating patients scale.
BACKGROUND
Validated measures of ward nurses' safety cultures in relation to escalations of care in deteriorating patients are lacking.


OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Clinicians' Attitudes towards Responding and Escalating care of Deteriorating patients (CARED) scale for use among ward nurses.


METHODS
The study was conducted in two phases: scale development and psychometric evaluation. The scale items were developed based on a systematic literature review, informant interviews, and expert reviews (n = 15). The reliability and validity of the scale were examined by administering the scale to 617 registered nurses with retest evaluations (n = 60). The factor structure of the CARED scale was examined in a split-half analysis with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and known-group validity of the scale were also analysed.


RESULTS
A high overall content validity index of 0.95 was obtained from the validations of 15 international experts from seven countries. A three-factor solution was identified from the final 22 items: 'beliefs about rapid response system', 'fears about escalating care', and 'perceived confidence in responding to deteriorating patients'. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was supported with a good Cronbach's alpha value of 0.86 and a Spearman-Brown split-half coefficient of 0.87. An excellent test-retest reliability was demonstrated, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.92. The convergent validity of the scale was supported with an existing validated scale. The CARED scale also demonstrated abilities to discriminate differences among the sample characteristics.


CONCLUSIONS
The final 22-item CARED scale was tested to be a reliable and valid scale in the Singaporean setting. The scale may be used in other settings to review hospitals' rapid response systems and to identify strategies to support ward nurses in the process of escalating care in deteriorating ward patients.
['Chua|Wei Ling|WL|', 'Tee|Augustine|A|', 'Hassan|Norasyikin Binte|NB|', 'Jones|Daryl|D|', 'Tam|Wilson Wai San|WWS|', 'Liaw|Sok Ying|SY|']
D001290:Attitude D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical D006801:Humans D011594:Psychometrics D015203:Reproducibility of Results D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Nurse Escalation of care Scale development Rapid response system Ward patients Clinical deterioration Medical emergency team Patient safety