Background and purpose: Nurses are committed to practice in an environmentally safe and healthy manner. However, nursing practice contributes significant negative impacts to the natural environment. We analyzed the psychometric properties of the Nurses Environmental Awareness Tool (NEAT), composed of 6 subscales, measuring awareness of environmental impacts and their health risks and ecological behaviors at work and home.
Methods: The NEAT was given to 689 nurses via online survey software. Exploratory factor analyses and Cronbach's alpha were examined for each of the 6 subscales.
Results: The 6 subscales resulted in one-factor models with items demonstrating adequate reliability (α > .67).
Conclusions: The NEAT is a psychometrically sound scale to measure nurses' awareness and behavior related to environmental impacts of nursing practice.