Development and Validation of the Nurse Needs Satisfaction Scale Based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to evaluate the needs satisfaction of nurses and examine its validity and reliability. METHODS: The initial items for the instrument were developed through a literature review and interviews, using the conceptual framework of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. The initial items were evaluated for content validity by 14 experts. Four hundred and eighty-six clinical nurses participated in this study through offline and online surveys to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. The first evaluation (n = 256) was used for item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, and the second evaluation (n = 230) was used to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis and to assess the criterion-related validity and internal consistency of the instrument. Test-retest reliability was analyzed using data from 30 nurses. RESULTS: The final instrument consisted of 30 items with two sub-factors for five needs that were identified through the confirmatory factor analysis. The criterion-related validity was established using the five need satisfaction measures (r = .56). Cronbach's α for total items was .90, and test-retest reliability was .89. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study indicate that this instrument has sufficient validity and reliability. This instrument can be used for the development of nursing interventions to improve the needs satisfaction of clinical nurses.