Development and validation of an instrument to assess knowledge and skills of evidence‐based nursing

Aims and objectives To develop an objective instrument to measure nurses' entry‐level knowledge of and skills in evidence‐based practice, and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the instrument. Background To promote evidence‐based practice in nursing, nurses should initially receive education about evidence‐based practice knowledge and learn the skills, and this should be followed by measurement with an instrument that was developed to evaluate the extent to which they are prepared to use evidence‐based practice knowledge and skills. Although some self‐report instruments have been developed to measure evidence‐based practice in nursing, an objective instrument to evaluate nurses' evidence‐based practice knowledge and skills is not available at present. Design A methodological study. Methods This study was conducted in two stages: the instrument development and its psychometric evaluation, including its validity and reliability. An instrument, ‘Knowledge and Skills of Evidence‐based Nursing,’ was developed. Content validity was assessed by five experts in evidence‐based nursing, and the construct validity was evaluated by the known‐groups method. Reliability was examined with internal consistency reliability and inter‐rater reliability. Results A content validity index >0·80 was achieved. For construct validity, there were statistically significant differences between the evidence‐based practice and nonevidence‐based practice groups in total scores and in the scores on each subscale of the Knowledge and Skills of Evidence‐based Nursing. Cronbach's alpha was 0·96, and the inter‐rater reliability was excellent. Conclusions The Knowledge and Skills of Evidence‐based Nursing is a valid and reliable instrument for objectively assessing nurses' evidence‐based practice knowledge and skills; it is quick to complete and to score the answers. Relevance to clinical practice Because the Knowledge and Skills of Evidence‐based Nursing objectively assesses nurses' evidence‐based practice knowledge and skills, it can be used to examine the effects of evidence‐based practice education. Moreover, the Knowledge and Skills of Evidence‐based Nursing may contribute to the promotion of evidence‐based practice projects in clinical settings because it can measure the extent to which nurses are prepared to use their evidence‐based practice knowledge and skills.