Validity and Reliability of the Surgical Conscience Scale for Turkish Operating Room Nurses.

Background and Purpose: Surgical conscience is a core concept in perioperative nursing practice that influences the quality and safety of perioperative care. It refers to nurses' moral responsibility to maintain surgical asepsis and ensure patient safety. Despite its central role in perioperative nursing, surgical conscience has rarely been operationalized using validated measurement tools across cultures. This study aimed to adapt the Surgical Conscience Scale into Turkish and assess its reliability and validity among operating room nurses.

Methods

The scale was translated using forward and backward translation procedures. Content validity was evaluated by 10 experts in surgical nursing. A pilot test with 30 nurses was conducted to assess item clarity and cultural appropriateness before the main data collection. Psychometric testing was performed with 238 operating room nurses. Construct validity was examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and reliability was assessed through internal consistency and test-retest analyses.

Results

The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value was 0.848, and Bartlett's test was significant (p < .001). The scale demonstrated high reliability (coefficient α = .840; subscales = .844-.891) and excellent temporal stability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .930, p < .001). A three-factor structure with acceptable to good model fit was supported.

Conclusion

The Turkish version of the Surgical Conscience Scale is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing surgical conscience among operating room nurses. Its use may support nursing research, perioperative education, and clinical quality improvement efforts aimed at strengthening ethical awareness and patient safety.