Development and Validation of a Meta-Instrument for the Assessment of Functional Capacity, the Risk of Falls and Pressure Injuries in Adult Hospitalization Units (VALENF Instrument) (Part II)

Abstract

The nursing assessment is the first step of the nursing process and fundamental to detecting patients’ care needs and at-risk situations. This article presents the psychometric properties of the VALENF Instrument, a recently developed meta-instrument with only seven items that integrates the assessment of functional capacity, risk of pressure injuries and risk of falls with a more parsimonious approach to nursing assessment in adult hospitalization units. A cross-sectional study based on recorded data in a sample of 1352 nursing assessments was conducted. Sociodemographic variables and assessments of the Barthel, Braden and Downton instruments were included at the time of admission through the electronic health history. Thus, the VALENF Instrument obtained high content validity (S-CVI = 0.961), construct validity (RMSEA = 0.072; TLI = 0.968) and internal consistency (Ω = 0.864). However, the inter-observer reliability results were not conclusive, with Kappa values ranging between 0.213 and 0.902 points. The VALENF Instrument has adequate psychometric properties (content validity, construct validity, internal consistency and inter-observer reliability) for assessing the level of functional capacity, risk of pressure injuries and risk of falls. Future studies are necessary to establish its diagnostic accuracy.

Improving Nursing Assessment in Adult Hospitalization Units: A Secondary Analysis

“…The overall goal of the VALENF project [ 24 ] was to develop and validate a meta-instrument that integrates assessment of functional capacity, pressure injury risk, and falls risk with a new approach to nursing assessment in adult hospitalization units [ 25 , 26 ]. One of the limitations of the project was the lack of validity and reliability of the data due to incomplete, inconsistent, or inaccurate assessments [ 31 , 32 ].…”

“…Knowing that these evaluations are the basis for carrying out diagnoses and interventions that adjust to the needs of the patient, the objective of the VALENF Project was to combine the nursing assessment of functional capacity, risk of pressure injuries, and risk of falls in a single an instrument that integrates them. Thus, a more parsimonious seven-item meta-tool has been obtained with a high predictive capacity and reliability compared to the original instruments [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Diagnostic accuracy study of the VALENF instrument in hospitalization units for adults: a study protocol

“…Recently, the "VALoración ENFermera" (VALENF) instrument, Nursing Assessment by its acronym in Spanish, was developed as a meta-tool composed of only 7 items with a more parsimonious approach for nursing assessment in adult hospitalization units [23,24]. This meta-tool integrates the assessment of functional capacity, the risk of pressure injuries and the risk of falls.…”