Psychometric properties of the self‐efficacy for clinical evaluation scale in Turkish nursing students

Aims and objectives To examine psychometric properties of the Self‐Efficacy for Clinical Evaluation Scale (SECS) in a nursing student sample. Background Self‐efficacy is a good choice to be used in order to make a prediction of nursing students' performance in clinical practice. The SECS, consisting of perceived self‐efficacy and importance subscales, seems to be suitable to evaluate self‐efficacy regarding care skills for patients with chronic diseases. However, there is not a valid tool to evaluate the perception of self‐efficacy for Turkish nursing students. Design Cross‐sectional methodological design. Methods The sample included 400 Turkish nursing students who attended practicum at a hospital. Content of the SECS was evaluated by content validity index (CVI). Reliability was evaluated with internal consistency, item–total correlation and test–retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and convergent and divergent validity were used to test the validity. Results The CVI results were satisfactory. We found satisfactory evidence for internal consistency and item–total correlations. Intraclass correlation coefficients showed stability of subscales. The CFA replicated two‐factor structure for the SECS. This was reflected in all fit indices. All factor loadings were positive and were above the perfect level. The convergent validity was supported by the correlation between SECS and General Self‐Efficacy Scale. The divergent validity findings demonstrated that SECS differentiated between students with various levels of general point average, which is an indicator of academic success. Conclusion In conclusion, SECS is a reliable and valid tool used in clinical nursing education settings. Relevance to clinical practice Measuring students' self‐efficacy in a clinical environment can provide an insight for students into what they have learned. Nurse educators can also use the SECS to spot nursing students with weaknesses in care activities and create educational strategies to help them to enhance their academic performance. Using the SECS can yield an insight both for students and for nursing educators.