International emergency nursing | 2019
The design and psychometric evaluation of the emergency medical services resilience scale (EMSRS).
Abstract
INTRODUCTION\nThe nature of pre-hospital emergency medical care can expose healthcare workers to significant stresses that might lead to psychological problems such as job burnout and impaired resilience. A valid and reliable tool is, therefore, needed to investigate resilience in emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. This study was conducted to design a tool for assessing the resilience of emergency medical personnel in Iran and to examine the psychometric properties of the designed tool.\n\n\nMETHODS\nThis methodological study was conducted in two phases: A qualitative stage with individual interviews and a review of literature to generate items, and a quantitative stage of psychometric evaluations that assessed the face, content, and construct validity of the tool. The reliability of the tool was also assessed using the internal consistency and test-retest methods.\n\n\nRESULTS\nExploratory factor analysis was used to design a 31-item scale with a six-factor structure. These six factors, i.e. job motivation, communication challenges, social support, remaining calm, self-management, and consequences of stress, explained 51.8% of the variance. The scale s Cronbach s alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient were calculated as 0.91 and 0.85, respectively.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nThe scale developed on the resilience of EMS personnel can be used as a valid and reliable tool for assessing resilience in EMS personnel. It can also assist emergency service managers to plan courses to improve their staff s resilience.