Examination of the Structural Validity of the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory Using Exploratory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Background and PurposeThis study tested the psychometrics of the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI—actual version), a tool designed to measure the perceptions of nursing students' clinical learning. The developer of the CLEI did not report structural validity.MethodExploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed using data from 311 licensure nursing students to assess the CLEI's proposed dimensions or structural validity.ResultsThe Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test indicated acceptable sampling adequacy. Analysis of four different models, while retaining items with factor loadings >0.35, resulted in a four-factor solution with 32 items. The factors were renamed: Concern for Student Welfare (the highest weighted factor); Organized/Effective Teaching; Enjoyment of Clinical Learning; and Student Decision-Making.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the 32 item four-factor CLEI is sufficiently structurally valid and reliable for further testing.