Content validity of an instrument for analysing nurses' knowledge of peripherally inserted central catheters.

ABSTRACT

Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) ensure safe and long-lasting venous access. Using validated instruments to assess nurses' knowledge of PICC use will allow educational measures to improve this area of care to be developed. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to build an instrument for analysing nurses' knowledge about PICCs and assess its content validity. METHODS: A psychometric study was used with the construction of a knowledge analysis instrument. This was developed in two stages instrument construction; and content validation by expert judges using the content validity ratio. RESULTS: The panel of experts comprised nine nurses. Nineteen changes related to content and semantics were suggested for the instrument. CONCLUSION: The research allowed for the construction and validation of a tool for knowledge analysis; this is relevant to practice as no such knowledge instrument exists. It is proposed to use this assessment instrument to identify gaps in knowledge and implement focused training interventions.