Development and Psychometric Testing of a Comprehensive Cancer Nurse Self-Assessment Tool (CaN-SAT) for Identifying Cancer Nursing Skills.

Aim: To develop and psychometrically test a comprehensive Cancer Nurse Self-Assessment Tool (CaN-SAT).

Design: Modified Delphi to assess content validity and cross-sectional survey to assess reliability and validity.

Methods: Phase 1: An expert group developed the tool structure and item content. Phase 2: Through a modified Delphi, cancer nursing experts rated the importance of each element of practice and assessed the relevance and clarity of each item. Content Validation Indexes (CVI) were calculated, and a CVI of ≥ 0.78 was required for items to be included. Phase 3: Cancer nurses participated in a survey to test internal consistency (using Cronbach's alpha coefficients) and known-group validity (through Mann-Whitney U tests). This study was reported using the Guidelines for Reporting Reliability and Agreement Studies (GRRAS) checklist.

Results: The CaN-SAT underwent two rounds of Delphi with 24 then 15 cancer nursing experts. All elements of practice were rated as important. Only three items achieved a CVI < 0.78 after round one; however, based on open-ended comments, 26 items were revised and one new item added. After round two, all items received a CVI above 0.78. The final tool consisted of 93 items across 15 elements of practice. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were between 0.92 and 0.98 indicating good reliability. Mann-Whitney U tests demonstrated significant differences between clinical nurses and advanced practice nurses across 13 out of 15 elements of practice.

Conclusion: The CaN-SAT is a comprehensive, valid and reliable tool that can be used for cancer nurses to self-assess current skill levels, identify their learning needs and inform decisions about educational opportunities to optimise cancer care provision.

Patient Or Public Contribution: The research team included three patient advocates from Cancer Voices NSW, who were actively involved in all aspects of the study and are listed as authors.