Nursing Students' Perceptions on Healthcare-Associated Infection Control and Prevention Teaching and Learning Experience: Development and Validation of a Scale in Four European Countries

• Main Authors: Amaia Yurrebaso Macho, Alexander L. Ward Mayens, Eva Ma Picado Valverde, Raquel Guzmán Ordaz, Juan Antonio Juanes Méndez, Jose Luis Pérez Iglesias, José Antonio Mirón Canelo, Maria do Rosário Pinto, Alcinda Maria do Sacramento Costa Reis, Joaquim Augusto Simões, Ana Luísa Torres, Marja Silén-Lipponen, Ulla Korhonen, Leena Koponen, Mikko Myllymäki, Aleksandra Jankowiak-Bernaciak, Amelia Patrzała, Grażyna Bączyk, Anna Basa, Paulo Santos Costa, Beatriz Serambeque, Anabela Salgueiro Oliveira, João Pardal, João Manuel Garcia do Nascimento Graveto, Pedro Parreira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-10-01
• Series: Frontiers in Psychology
• Subjects: infections; infection control; learning; nursing; students
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701208/full

Healthcare-associated infections are one of the major concerns worldwide. This study presents the development and the validation process of the InovSafeCare scale and aimed at identifying and measuring the ecosystem variables related to healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) prevention and control practices in European nurse students. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to (1) elaborate an item pool related to the educational environment, the healthcare setting environment, and the attitudes, beliefs, and performance of the nursing students regarding HCAI prevention and control and (2) analyze psychometric properties of the scale using factor analysis. The validated InovSafeCare scale was applied to undergraduate nursing students of five European Higher Education Institutions. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method with SMART-PLS3 software was used. The study sample consists of 657 nursing students, who responded a self-report inventory. From the analyzed data were identified 14 factors. The InovSafeCare scale reveals good validity and reliability of the dimensions in different European countries.