Purpose
This study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Healthy Work Environment Assessment Tool (K-HWEAT), originally developed by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Methods: The study was conducted among nurses working at three university hospitals located in metropolitan areas between May 29 and October 10, 2019. A total of 543 nurses participated. Data were analyzed using AMOS version 26.0 to assess the construct validity of the K-HWEAT. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis initially failed to meet acceptable model fit indices. Model fit improved after reassigning item 1 from factor 1 to factor 2 and item 12 from factor 4 to factor 6, as well as allowing correlated error terms based on high modification indices. Following these adjustments, standardized root mean square residual remained unchanged (0.05 to 0.05) and root mean square error of approximation decreased from 0.09 to 0.07, whereas goodness of fit index increased from 0.88 to 0.91, adjusted goodness of fit index from 0.83 to 0.86, Normed Fit Index from 0.85 to 0.89, and comparative fit index from 0.88 to 0.92. The K-HWEAT demonstrated a moderate correlation with the Korean version of the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (r=.60, p<.001), supporting criterion validity. The overall Cronbach’s α was .92, with the six factors showing internal consistency coefficients ranging from 0.62 to 0.74. Conclusion: These findings support the reliability and validity of the K-HWEAT. However, further conceptual refinement of individual items may be necessary to enhance construct clarity.

PURPOSE
Purposes of this study were to develop a Nurse Emotional Labor Strategy Scale in Korean (K-NELSS) and to evaluate its psychometric properties.
METHODS
The 14 items Emotional Labor Strategy Scale (ELSS) was translated into Korean and modified to apply to nurses. Two hundred and fifty nurses working in various units completed the questionnaire. Factor validity using confirmatory factor analysis, construct validity using correlation with burn-out, and criterion validity using correlation with Korean-Emotional Labor Scale (K-ELS) were identified. Reliability was tested by Cronbach's α.
RESULTS
K-NELSS has 3 domains: surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotions. Confirmatory factor analysis showed moderate goodness of fit (RMSEA=.80, SRMR=.07, CFI=93, TFI=.92). Correlation between surface acting and burn-out was r=.37 (p < .001), and between K-NELSS and K-ELS were r=.57 (p < .001) in surface action and r=.62 (p < .001) in deep acting. Cronbach's αs for surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotions were .89, .88, .84, respectively.
CONCLUSION
Psychometric properties of K-NELSS indicate that it is a useful and reliable tool to assess emotional labor of Korean nurses. In addition, with a small number of items, it is relatively easy to use.

Citations

• Psychological pathway to emotional exhaustion among nurses and midwives who provide perinatal bereavement care in China: a path analysis
  Jialu Qian, Gaoyan Wu, Cecilia Jevitt, Shiwen Sun, Man Wang, Xiangyu Sun, Xiaoyan Yu
  BMC Psychiatry.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• The Level and Outcomes of Emotional Labor in Nurses: A Scoping Review
  Hanbo Feng, Meng Zhang, Xueting Li, Yang Shen, Xiaohan Li, Nilesh Kumar
  Journal of Nursing Management.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Effects of Emotional Labor and Compassion Competence on Dental Hygiene Performance in Dental Hygienists
  Sun-Mi Kim, Young-Im Kim
  Journal of Dental Hygiene Science.2021; 21(2): 79.     CrossRef
• Emotional Labor Strategies, Stress, and Burnout Among Hospital Nurses: A Path Analysis
  Ji‐Soo Kim
  Journal of Nursing Scholarship.2020; 52(1): 105.     CrossRef
• Emotional labor and job types of male firefighters in Daegu Metropolitan City
  Sung Kyu Park, Han Cheol Heo, Joon Sakong, Man Joong Jeon
  Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef

PURPOSE
The purpose of the study was to identify characteristics of nursing and caring concepts measured by nursing competencies or caring behaviors tools for general nurses working in acute care hospitals.
METHODS
Five major nursing literature databases were used to identify the relevant tools. The study included 19 nursing competencies tools with a total of 843 measurement items and 12 caring behaviors tools with 334 items. According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN)'s Competencies Framework and 8Cs suggested by Roach (1987) and Pusari (1998), the measurement items were classified by two researchers independently first and in agreement finally.
RESULTS
Competency of ‘key principles of care’ including sub-areas of the ICN Framework was most commonly found: on average 49.3% of nursing competencies items and 91.9% of caring behaviors items. 97.0% of the caring behaviors items were classified into one of six Cs: competence (27.5%), confidence (21.3%), compassion (17.1%), commitment (16.5%), communication (9.9%), or conscience (4.8%).
CONCLUSION
Nursing competencies tools were more likely to measure ‘what to do’ focusing on tasks, while caring behaviors tools were to measure ‘how to do’ focusing on nurses' attitudes or values. Nursing practices should be evaluated with both nursing competencies and caring behaviors tools, considering that nursing and caring were differently conceptualized in the quantitative tools.

Citations

• Development of an end-of-life care competency scale for nurses in long-term care hospitals: a psychometric validation study
  Sookyeon Son, Mi-Kyeong Jeon
  Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing.2025; 55(4): 598.     CrossRef
• Concept analysis of end-of-life care competency of long-term-care-hospital nurses: Using a hybrid model
  Sookyeon Son, Mi-Kyeong Jeon
  Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing.2024; 26(1): 19.     CrossRef
• Questionnaire Development of a Good Nurse and Better Nursing From Korean Nurses' Perspective
  Mihyun PARK, Eun-Jun PARK
  Journal of Nursing Research.2020; 28(6): e120.     CrossRef
• Validity and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Watson Caritas Patient Score
  SookBin IM, MiKyoung CHO, MyoungLyun HEO
  Journal of Nursing Research.2020; 28(2): e80.     CrossRef
• Analysis of Korean Nursing Studies Applied in Interpersonal Caring Theory
  Heeyoung Kim
  Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing.2020; 27(2): 116.     CrossRef
• A Review of the Korean Nursing Research Literature with Focus on Quantitative Measurement of Caring
  Jeong-Hee Kim, Young Sook Park
  Journal of Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing.2018; 29(2): 155.     CrossRef