Abstract
Objective
To build and validate an instrument for family participation in newborn care at the neonatal unit.
Methods
A methodological research. The construction procedures of assessment instruments proposed by Pasquali were adopted to conduct the theoretical, empirical and analytical steps. Forty representatives of hospitalized newborn families participated in the pilot study; 20 for the semantic validation phase; and 20 for the test and rest. In data analysis, the instrument was validated through psychometric analysis and statistical procedures to verify reliability, validity, estimation of items parameters, and family participation measure.
Results
In the theoretical phase, the reception, information, shared autonomy, self-confidence and collaborative relationships constructs, which make up the phenomenal family participation in the care of hospitalized newborns, were identified from integrative literature review. Therefore, the measurement instrument’s first version was built, containing 32 items, with Likert-type responses, which was submitted to assessment by the judges. After two rounds, the second version was generated with an 81% agreement percentage and 0.81 content validation index (CVI). In the semantic validation, representatives of twenty families demonstrated an understanding of the items. They considered them relevant, clear, and had no difficulty in answering them. In the empirical phase, the instrument was applied with twenty representatives of families in which a 0.92 Cronbach’s Alpha was obtained. In the analytical phase, the 32 items assessed generated seven factors, whose factor loads allowed their maintenance in the final instrument.
Conclusion
The instrument proved to have excellent internal consistency, stability over time and items that demonstrated to belong to the analyzed phenomenon. It is necessary to broaden the target population’s sample for this indicator to be used to target interventions with the family at the neonatal unit.
Infant, newborn; Family; Neonatal nursing; Psychometrics; Validation studies