Development, Reliability, and Validity of the Perceptions of Brain Injury Survey.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess psychometric properties of the Perceptions of Brain Injury Survey (PBIS), an instrument designed to assess nurses' perceptions and preparation to care for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: We adapted two instruments to create the PBIS, and 724 nurses completed the PBIS at three hospitals. RESULTS: Final instrument has 66 items and is composed of four subscales, which can be used independently. Results showed Cronbach's alpha for the overall scale was excellent (.93) and alphas for each composite subscale were acceptable to excellent (.73-.93). Findings also suggest good discriminant validity and evidence of external validity. CONCLUSIONS: The PBIS is a reliable and valid measure for assessing nurses' perceptions of caring for patients with TBI in practice or research.