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Abstract

Aims and objectives
To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument that measures nurses' Attitudes Towards Recognising Early and Noticeable Deterioration (ATREND).

Background
General ward nurses play an important role in recognising patient deterioration. However, their attitudes towards early recognition of clinical deterioration have not been adequately explored due to the lack of a valid and reliable scale.

Design
An instrument development and validation study.

Methods
A three-phase structure that followed the STROBE checklist was used: (1) item generation, (2) content and face validity assessment and (3) psychometric properties evaluation. The scale items were developed based on a comprehensive literature review and content validity assessment by 15 international experts from five countries. The psychometric properties of the ATREND scale were tested on 434 registered nurses, with retest evaluations (n = 100) at two hospitals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the factor structure of the scale. The scale was also evaluated for its internal consistency, test–retest reliability and convergent validity.

Results
The scale's content validity was 0.95. A 3-factor solution was identified from the final 11 items: (1) beliefs about importance of patient observation, (2) use of broader patient assessment skills and (3) confidence in recognising clinical deterioration. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was supported with an acceptable Cronbach's alpha value of 0.745. Test–retest reliability of the scale was excellent, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.825. The ATREND scale shows evidence of good convergent validity.

Conclusion
The final 11-item ATREND scale demonstrates adequate initial evidence of reliability and validity for use in acute ward settings.

Relevance to clinical practice
Nursing educators and clinicians may use this scale to assess ward nurses' attitudes and practices towards early recognition of clinical deterioration and then enhance their competencies and behaviours in the recognition of clinical deterioration.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RT Nursing
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Nursing
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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