Career barriers in nurses: Scale development study

The aim of this study was to develop the "Career Barriers Scale in Nurses" to identify nurses' perceived career barriers and to analyze the psychometric properties of the scale. A 35-item initial pool was created based on a literature review and presented to seven experts for evaluation. In line with their feedback, a 34-item five-point Likert-type scale was developed. The population of this methodological study consisted of 4,318 nurses working at 10 hospitals (including university, public, and private institutions) in Istanbul. The sample of the study included 1,166 volunteer nurses selected through convenience sampling from the targeted hospitals. Data were collected between June and July 2023 using the Personal and Professional Characteristics Form, the draft version of the Career Barriers Scale in Nurses, and the Subjective Career Success Scale, which served as an equivalent form. The data obtained in the study were analyzed using IBM SPSS 28 and the R programming language, with a 95% confidence interval. The validity of the scale was assessed through content, face, and construct validity, while reliability was evaluated using item-total correlations, Cronbach's alpha, split-half reliability, test-retest reliability, and parallel form reliability. The overall content validity index of the total scale was found to be 0.93. The construct validity of the scale was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis on two separate heterogeneous samples with unequal sizes. Prior to EFA, item-total score correlations were examined, and since no items were found with a correlation below 0.05, a draft scale consisting of 34 items was developed. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was 0.951, and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity yielded χ² = 24,341.757 (p=0.000), indicating the data were suitable for factor analysis. The scale, which explained 53.329% of the total variance, consisted of 34 items and three factors: Professional Barriers, Organizational Barriers, and Individual Barriers. The compatibility of the factor structure was validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The goodness-of-fit indices were: χ²/df = 4.68117, GFI = 0.9024, CFI = 0.9069, NFI-TLI = 0.9053, and RMSEA = 0.0670, indicating that the model was compatible with the proposed factor structure. The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.950, and ranged between 0.886 and 0.923 for its subdimensions. The Spearman-Brown and Guttman Split-Half reliability coefficients were 0.826; meanwhile, a statistically significant negative correlation was found in parallel form validity (r = -0.564, p = 0.000). The test-retest analysis also revealed a significant correlation between scores (r = 0.899, p < 0.01). The Career Barriers Scale in Nurses was developed as a 5-point Likert-type scale comprising 34 items and three subdimensions. The mean total score on the scale was moderate (3.330 ± 0.744). Among the subdimensions, the Professional Barriers subscale had a high mean score (3.726 ± 0.811), whereas the Organizational Barriers (3.278 ± 0.894) and Individual Barriers (2.827 ± 0.898) subscales had moderate mean scores. Significant differences were observed in the mean scores of the total scale and its subdimensions based on institution type, gender, age, education level, professional experience, and career development plans (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate that the Career Barriers Scale in Nurses is a valid and reliable measurement tool.