Psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of advance care planning self-efficacy scale among clinical nurses

Abstract Background Nurses are one of the most critical members of advance care planning (ACP) discussion. The evaluation of ACP self-efficacy is of great significance for developing targeted ACP interventions among clinical nurses and update their professional roles. However, there are few instruments to evaluate their ACP self-efficacy in mainland China. The purpose of this study was to translate the ACP self-efficacy scale into Chinese and evaluate its psychometric properties among clinical nurses. Methods A methodological study of the translation and validation of the ACP self-efficacy scale was conducted from January to March 2022. It involved three phases: (1) the translation and revision of the scale; (2) the exploration and evaluation of the item ( n = 436); (3) the psychometric evaluation of the scale ( n = 674). Results After a rigorous translation and revision, the ACP self-efficacy scale with three dimensions and 16 items was finally formed. In this study, the critical ratios of the item ranged from 8.226 to 17.499, and the item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.437 to 0.732, and the factor loadings of the item ranged from 0.638 to 0.882. The content validity index of the scale was 0.946. Supported by the eigenvalues, the three-factor structure explained the cumulative 61.131% of the overall variance. As the results of confirmatory factor analysis, all the recommended fitting indexes were appropriate. The average variance extracted values ranged from 0.570 to 0.756, and the composite reliability values ranged from 0.858 to 0.925. The total Cronbach's α coefficient, split-half reliability coefficient and test–retest reliability coefficient of the scale were 0.896, 0.767 and 0.939, respectively. Conclusion The Chinese version of ACP self-efficacy scale was successfully introduced into China, showing good psychometric properties among clinical nurses, and can effectively assess the ACP self-efficacy. Also, the scale can provide nursing educators with a significant strategy to develop ACP educational procedure and post-intervention measures for clinical nurses to improve nurse-led ACP practice.