Development and psychometric testing of the Nursing Student Satisfaction Scale.

AIM The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument with rigorous psychometric properties to comprehensively measure nursing student satisfaction and to identify areas for nursing program enhancement. BACKGROUND Measures of program quality are frequently designed to demonstrate to professional groups that the educational program will prepare graduates for success in a rapidly changing world. METHOD This was a longitudinal methodological study.The Nursing Student Satisfaction Scale (NSSS) was used to gather students' perceptions of satisfaction with a nursing program at a university. RESULTS In total, 303 nursing students enrolled in the final semester of the associate degree in nursing program participated in the study. Psychometric evaluation of the NSSS included content validity, item analysis for internal consistency reliability, and construct validity. CONCLUSION The NSSS demonstrated sound psychometric properties through the pilot test and the three-year longitudinal study. It provides a theory-based approach to the measurement of nursing student satisfaction.