Development and Validation Study of a Short-Form Version of the Inpatient Experience with Nursing Care Scale

The Inpatient Experience with Nursing Care Scale (IPENCS) is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring patients' experiences with nursing care. This study aimed to develop and validate a short-form of this scale. To ensure the experiment was scientific and rigorous, the short-form IPENCS was developed and validated by both qualitative and quantitative methods in three phases. Phase one is to develop the short version of the instrument. Phase two is to evaluate the validity and reliability of the short-form IPENCS. Phase three is to conduct a cognitive interview (CI) to evaluate the comprehensibility of the short version. 1565 valid questionnaires were received and the response rate was 75.02%. Thirteen items were excluded under four methods of simplification. The 17-item IPENCS showed good reliability and validity. Less completion time and high acceptance about the scale length were also found in the CI. The short-form IPENCS showed acceptable measurement properties which was regarded as an alternative to the original scale to provide rapid assessment and quality improvement suggestions.