Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate reliability and validity of the relational competency assessment instrument, Relational Insights 360 (RI-360) (Koloroutis & Trout, 2012), among 104 baccalaureate nursing students and 10 standardized patients (SPs) upon completion of a communication simulation.
Methods: The reliability of the RI-360 was determined by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Interrater reliability of the RI-360 was measured between the SPs and the primary investigator with percentages. Factor analysis was run to evaluate the construct validity.
Results: The RI-360 was internally consistent with an alpha coefficient of 0.93. Interrater reliability for all items on the RI-360 was 42% between students' scores and SPs' scores and 38.9% between the Primary Investigator's scores and SPs' scores. Exploratory factor analysis showed that factor loadings ranged from 0.29 to 0.84.
Conclusions: The RI-360 appears to be a valid and reliable scale for use in measuring relational competency among nursing students and SPs.
Keywords: nursing students; relational competency; standardized patients; therapeutic communication.
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