Validating the Alberta Context Tool in a multi-site Australian Emergency Department nurse population

Abstract

The organisational context of healthcare settings has an essential role in how research evidence is used in clinical practice. The Alberta Context Tool (ACT) measures 10 concepts of organisational context with higher scores indicating a more positive work environment and potentially better use of research evidence in patient care. We assessed the psychometric properties of the ACT in Emergency Departments (EDs). This validation study was conducted as part of a multi-centre trial of triage, treatment and transfer (T 3 Trial) of patients with stroke admitted to EDs. Stratified sampling with proportional allocation was used to recruit ED nurses from 26 participating hospitals at baseline. Nurses completed a survey containing the ACT. Structural validity was investigated by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients. Item-rest correlations and the average inter-item correlations were also assessed. 558 ED nurses completed the survey, comprised of 433 surveys without missing data. Our exploratory factor analysis produced a 14-factor structure, explaining 62% of variance of organisational context. For eight of ten concepts, item loadings matched the factor structure of the original ACT. Confirmatory factor analysis of the 10 ACT concepts showed moderate model fit (p = 0.001, root mean square error of approximation: 0.049, standardised root mean squared residual: 0.048). Cronbach’s alphas showed very good internal consistency for nine of ten ACT concepts (α>0.7; 0.45–0.90). Item-rest correlations indicated that most ACT items (50 of 56 items) within any concept related well to the total score of the concept. Average inter-item correlations indicated potential redundant items for three concepts (feedback processes, leadership, staffing) that were above the threshold of 0.5. While identifying a few shortcomings for some ACT concepts in an ED context, the majority of findings confirm reliability and validity of the original ACT in an Australian population of ED nurses.

Translation and validation of the Alberta Context Tool for use in Norwegian nursing homes

“…In line with previous validation studies of the ACT [21,23,38], we used three factor models: one for all items, one for items included in the seven scale-based concepts and one for items included in the three count-based concepts, as recommended by the copyright holders [23]. Similar to the previous validation studies, we found improvement in model fit when excluding the count-based items.…”

“…The ACT showed acceptable validity both in terms of reliability and structural validity, measured using confirmatory factor analyses. The English version of the ACT has previously been thoroughly validated by the tool developers and others, in different healthcare settings [19][20][21]38]. Translated versions of the ACT have also been validated in Swedish [22] and German studies [23].…”

Measuring organizational context in Australian emergency departments and its impact on stroke care and patient outcomes

“…Higher scores indicate a more positive perception of organizational context. The ACT has been validated extensively demonstrating good psychometric properties Estabrooks, Squires, Hayduk, Cummings, & Norton, 2011), including a comprehensive validation in our own population of emergency nurses that confirmed the factor structure of the ACT and showed Cronbach's alphas of excellent internal consistency (a > 0.7) for 9 of 10 ACT domains (Schadewaldt et al, 2019).…”

Work environment assessment instruments used in nursing

“…Some studies focused on particular types of departments such as emergency departments (e.g. Schadewaldt et al, 2019) or intensive care units. Four studies were concerned with primary care (e.g.…”