Development of the nurse care assessment for in-hospital spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

STUDY

DESIGN

A development and reliability study.

OBJECTIVES

To develop an assessment tool designed to categorize the care needs of inpatients with Spinal Cord Injuries.

SETTING

Spinal Cord Injury Centre of Western Denmark.

METHODS

Inspired by previous tools, NCA-SCI was refined through an iterative process with experienced clinicians. Content validity was established via consensus meetings and focus group interviews, resulting in 17 items across five categories: no/minor assistance, moderate assistance, severe nursing assistance, and unstable situations needing extensive nursing care. Face validity was ensured through iterative clinical feedback, and reliability was tested with four nurses scoring 36 patients.

RESULTS

Content validity and feedback led to a comprehensive, practical tool. Inter-rater reliability showed 81.4% agreement (Kappa = 0.69), while intra-rater reliability had 78.9% agreement (Kappa = 0.65), indicating moderate reliability.

CONCLUSION

The NCA-SCI assesses nursing care needs in SCI rehabilitation, offering a practical tool with moderate reliability. The development of the NCA-SCI led to an easily usable tool for planning and coordinating daily care at a highly specialized unit.