Validity and reliability of a bone marrow transplant acuity tool
Lovett, R.B.; McMillan, S.C.
Oncology Nursing Forum 20(9): 1385-1392
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0190-535X PMID: 8265443 Document Number: 414639
The purpose of this project was to develop a valid and reliable patient-acuity tool for patients undergoing bone marrow transplant (BMT) as part of an overall patient-acuity system. A survey of other cancer centers and a review of the literature revealed no acuity tools that were designed for patients undergoing BMT. A four-level, nursing-diagnosis-based tool was developed with multiple indicators in each level, and its validity and reliability were studied. Content validity indexes (CVIs) were generated for each indicator by a panel of content experts. CVIs ranged from 0.4 to 1.0 with an overall CVI of 0.93 for the tool. Interrater reliability using two raters for 79 patients was high (r = 0.94, p < 0.001). Results of the study provide sufficient evidence of validity and reliability to warrant use of the tool, but further study is needed.