Development and psychometric evaluation of the catheter assessment, management and performance (CAMP) scale for nurses

Aim

To develop and test the psychometric properties of a self-administered scale to assess the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour of nurses to support the self-management of patients living with indwelling urinary catheters.

Background

Nurses are pivotal in supporting patients with urinary catheter self-management to prevent potentially avoidable hospital presentations. However, no validated scale is available to assess nurses’ attitudes and readiness for this task.

Design

A quasi-experimental design was used to collect survey data both at baseline and after the completion of the intervention. A total of 128 participants were recruited from the Western Sydney region (New South Wales, Australia), who were working in community healthcare settings. Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap™) database was used to manage the survey data collected for data analysis purposes. This study has been registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN126210 0 0683831)

Methods

Using a three-stage process of concept identification, item construction and pilot testing to develop the Catheter Assessment, Management and Performance (CAMP) scale, followed by factorial and discriminant validity and reliability testing. This 23-item CAMP scale is theoretically informed by the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour) model, recognised for its effectiveness in understanding and influencing behaviour change. The scale was distributed to nurses working in three community health care settings to assess their knowledge, attitude and behaviour regarding catheter management and performance.

Results

Four factors were identified using scree plot, accounting for 63.36 % of total explained variance, which reflected the four dimensions of the COM-B model. Cronbach's alpha of the overall CAMP scale (0.93) and subscales (0.92, 0.87, 0.85 and 0.86) indicate good internal consistencies. The CAMP scale was able to detect changes in nurses’ self-reported behaviour change following educational intervention (85.53 versus 95.98, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The CAMP scale is valid and reliable scale, capable of assessing nurses’ capability, opportunity and motivation to support patients, through delivery of catheter self-management education that can potentially prevent catheter-related complications and avoid hospital presentations. Future research could explore using CAMP scale among non-specialist nurses and in various clinical settings to enhance its effectiveness and generalisability.