The Nursing Work Index-Revised" -Instrument translation and assessment of a Norwegian version

Background: Rigorous and systematic translation and contextual evaluation of previously tested instruments is necessary for conducting internationally comparable nursing workforce studies.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the cross-cultural applicability of the Nursing Work Index-Revised (NWI-R) in Norway.

Methods: Using a systematic approach, a research team conducted a translation, evaluation – using Content Validity Indexing (CVI) techniques – and a pilot test of the NWI-R. The instrument’s reliability and construct validity was assessed in the pilot test data.

Results: The NWI-R received an overall CVI score of 0.93 from expert raters; indicating excellent crosscultural relevance. The pilot test had 88 respondents representing a 77 % response rate. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.88 to 0.94 on the instrument’s subscales, with the nursing administration subscale receiving the lowest score. Test-retest correlation ranged from 0.63 to 0.81, with nurses’ relations with physicians receiving the lowest score. Hypothesized between-group differences were confirmed.

Conclusions: The overall evaluation suggests that NWI-R is relevant to Norwegian nursing. The reliability scores, however, raise some questions about the reliability of administratively oriented questions. Further testing of the instrument in the Norwegian healthcare context will help determine the rigor of its reliability and validity.