Development and psychometric properties of an instrument to evaluate missed nursing care in home care: A validation study

Objective: To develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate missed nursing care (MNC) in a home care setting. Design: A new instrument was developed and tested performing a preliminary analysis of a multicenter cross-sectional study in Italy. Reporting was performed according to COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) guidelines. Sample: Eight hundred out of a total of 2549 home care nurses enrolled in AIDOMUS-IT were considered for the validation of the Missed Nursing Care in Home Care (MNC_HC). Measurements: The MNC_HC instrument was developed by a panel of experts and underwent content and face validation. Exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were conducted. Results: EFA revealed a one-factor solution, explaining 56% of the total variance for MNC_HC. CFA confirmed excellent structural validity, with a one-factor model showing an exceptional fit (chi(2) (27) = 141.39, p < .001, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMR = 0.04, CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99, factor loadings > 0.5). MNC_HC also demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92). The activity with the highest rate of missed care was the documentation of nursing care (77%), while activities related to nursing techniques (e.g., injections, dressings, etc.) were reported to be missed less (33.63%). Conclusions: MNC_HC is a quick-filling, valid, reliable, and psychometrically sound instrument for measuring MNC in home care useful for future research.