Developing and validating an online situational judgment test on the stress coping competence of nursing apprentices

• Published in: Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 5 - 24
• Main Authors: Warwas, Julia, Vorpahl, Wiebke, Seeber, Susan, Krebs, Philine, Weyland, Ulrike, Wittmann, Eveline, Wilczek, Larissa, Strikovic, Aldin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Analysis; Apprenticeship; Apprenticeships; Authentic Technology-based Learning and Testing Environments in Vocational Education and Training; Competence; Coping; Economic Sociology; Education; Error of Measurement; Evaluation; Foreign Countries; Job Satisfaction; Job stress; Labor Economics; Measurement Techniques; Measures (Individuals); Mediation; Medical care; Nursing; Nursing education; Nursing Students; Online situational judgment testing; Organizational Studies; Predictive Validity; Professional and Vocational Education; Quality management; Reliability; Situational Tests; Skilled labor; Stress coping competence; Stress management; Stress Variables; Test validation; Training; Validity; Value Judgment; Germany; Canada; Test validation; Nursing education; Stress coping competence; Online situational judgment testing
• ISSN: 1877-6345; 1877-6337; 1877-6345
• DOI: 10.1186/s40461-023-00145-x

Converging evidence of high stress levels in the nursing profession as well as their detrimental effects on the execution of nursing actions, quality indicators of care, and self-reported job satisfaction justify the need for test environments that assess stress coping competences in dealing with domain-specific stress factors. Reliable and valid information on the test takers’ stress coping competence can help to identify individual deficits and supportive needs and thus, to design training measures that may contribute to job retention and a skilled workforce. This article describes the development and validation of a digital assessment that ensures authenticity by means of video-based situational judgement tests. Analyses of the performance data were conducted in four steps: (1) the scaling of the data with a partial credit model in order to identify items that are subject to measurement error, (2) differential-item-function analyses for different specializations in nursing education, (3) dimensionality tests, and (4) correlations between test performance and perceived psychological work stress in order to gauge criterion validity. The total sample consisted of n = 300 German nursing apprentices. The results show that the developed test instrument can be used for a reliable and valid measurement of coping skills of (prospective) nurses, covering two essential dimensions. Limitations of the current study and related objectives of future research are discussed together with questions of practical applicability.