Survey development: Caregivers help define a tool to measure cultures of care

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to develop an instrument that measures all healthcare staff's perceptions of a culture of caring. BACKGROUND Healthcare organizations have increased their focus on cultures of caring within their staff to improve staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction. Nurses and physicians traditionally have been the focus in understanding caring cultures excluding non-direct care staff who do impact organizational culture. METHODS An exploratory and partial confirmatory factor analysis was completed on 2 instruments that measure the perception of a caring culture in both direct care and non-direct care staff. RESULTS Results demonstrate that both the direct and non-direct care instruments are valid and reliable measures for assessing a caring culture. CONCLUSIONS The new 14-item clinical and new 10-item nonclinical staff caring assessment instruments will provide healthcare and nursing leaders with the ability to assess their culture through a direct and non-direct care perspective.