Nurses' views on motivation and development of the nurse motivation scale

This study was conducted with the aim of determining nurses' views on motivation and developing a scale to evaluate their motivation levels, using both qualitative (individual in-depth interview method) and quantitative (methodological method) designs. The research was conducted in two stages, with 42 nurses participating in the qualitative stage that formed the first stage and 657 nurses participating in the methodological stage that formed the second stage. Qualitative stage data was collected through individual in-depth interviews using a "Semi-Structured Interview Form" while quantitative data was collected through an "Introductory Information Form and a Draft of the Nurse Motivation Scale". Qualitative data were analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 software, and quantitative data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21. Nurses' views on motivation are reflected in the qualitative data; five themes have been examined regarding motivation: perspectives on motivation, factors increasing motivation, factors decreasing motivation, outcomes of motivation, and the role of the nurse manager in ensuring motivation. Both task-based and emotion-based discourses were used to define the concept of motivation. Factors that increase and decrease motivation are categorized under three themes: physical structure and equipment, human resource processes, and work environment. The outcomes of increased and decreased motivation were evaluated in terms of performance, satisfaction, success, job productivity, energy, and so on. Nurse managers also play an important role in ensuring motivation. In the second phase of the research, a draft scale consisting of 65 items was presented to experts based on the qualitative data from the first phase. The scope validity indices of the items ranged from 0.78 with 1.00. Items with a scope validity index below 0.80 were removed from the item pool, and the study proceeded to the implementation phase with 64 items. When the data obtained from 657 nurses were examined, after removing items with low item-total score correlations (below 0.70), the scale items showed correlations between 0.73 and 0.95. An exploratory factor analysis of the draft scale revealed a two-dimensional structure (work environment with organizational commitment and managerial attitude) consisting of 43 items. After examining the analysis results conducted to test the stability of the measurements obtained by applying the scale, consisting of two dimensions with 43 items discovered after exploratory factor analysis, to a group of 30 individuals with a 2-week interval, it was determined that there were no statistically significant differences in the total scale and sub-dimensions. Positive, strong, and significant relationships were found between repeated measurements in the total scale and the sub-dimensions (p<.05). The Cronbach's alpha value of the scale was found to be 0.99 in both the total scale and sub-dimensions. In the second stage of the research, it was determined that the "Nurse Motivation Scale" could be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool to determine the motivation level of nurses.