Development and Psychometric Evaluation of "Nurses' Moral Intelligence Scale" in Kerman University of Medical Sciences Hospitals

Introduction: Moral intelligence is one of the most important factors influencing the improvement of quality of hospital care. Therefore, to develop a suitable tool for nurses is essential. The purpose of this study was development and psychometric evaluation of "Nurses' Moral Intelligence Scale" in Kerman University of Medical Sciences Hospitals. Methods: The present study is a methodological study. Initially, with a comprehensive review of the literature on moral intelligence and the opinions of 15 experts in Delphi method after four rounds, nurses' moral intelligence domains were extracted. Then, using the concept of each component, items "Nurses' Moral Intelligence Scale" were developed and its content validity was evaluated by 22 experts. The scale was distributed among 400 nurses working in Kerman University of Medical Sciences hospitals. Its construct validity was measures using exploratory factor analysis. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest methods were used to measure reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS-20 and Amos-24 software. Results: Initially, 29 factors were identified for moral intelligence that gained 9 consensus experts in the four Delphi rounds. The designed scale also had 41 items, which reduced the number to 34 by examining content validity by experts and removing 7 items. In exploratory factor analysis, 9 factors and 34 items were confirmed. The reliability of the instrument was measured using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest, 0.961 and 0.861 respectively. Conclusions: The "Nurses' Moral Intelligence Scale" with 9 factors and 34 items has acceptable validity and reliability. It is suggested that researchers use the developed scale in their studies.