The factors affecting patient aggression scale: psychometric testing of a new tool

Abstract

Aim: To report the development and psychometric testing of the Factors Affecting Patient Aggression Scale (the FAPAS), a\xa0new attitude scale constructed to measure nurses’ perception of miscellaneous factors in terms of their potential to increase the risk of patient aggression against nurses. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The study was conducted according to the STROBE checklist. Data were collected using the FAPAS between November 2014 and May 2015. Registered nurses (n\xa0=\xa01,220) from nine teaching hospitals across Slovakia were included in the study. Construct validity and reliability of the instrument were tested using SPSS 18.0. Results: Resulting from the factor analysis, a six-factor structure was revealed. Six subscales representing specific groups of factors affecting patient aggression against nurses can be conditioned by Gender aspects, Situations of physical and emotional distress of a patient, Nurse-related factors, Factors of nursing shift organization, Patient-related factors, Factors of the nursing workplace environment. The Cronbach’s alpha of the instrument was 0.91, ranging from 0.63 to 0.88 for subscales. Conclusion: Based on psychometric testing in the Slovak sociocultural context, the FAPAS showed acceptable reliability and construct validity and thus is considered a promising instrument for measuring nurses’ perception of miscellaneous factors of patient aggression.