Development of a Tool for the Assessment of Nurses' Attitudes Toward Delirium

Abstract

Background and PurposeThe prevalence of delirium during hospitalization is high in older patients and there is evidence of staff regarding them as unpopular or a burden. This study aims to develop an instrument examining nurses' attitudes toward patients with delirium.MethodsStages included (a) content identification, (b) content development, (c) content critique, (e) pilot study with a test–retest reliability, (f) field study consisting of psychometric testing of the internal consistency and construct validity.ResultsThe Cronbach's alpha was 0.89 and the stability reliability was acceptable. The factor analysis resulted in three factors explaining a total of 56.5% of the variance. hese factors are “beliefs,” “behavior,” and “emotions,” explaining 37.025%, 12.792%, and 5.652% of variance.ConclusionsThe Attitude Tool of Delirium (ATOD) is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of attitudes toward delirium.