Development of nurse teachers’ dedication scale

doi:10.15406/mojgg.2025.10.00336

MOJ

eISSN: 2574-8130

Gerontology & Geriatrics

Research Article Volume 10 Issue 2

Development of nurse teachers’ dedication scale

Mohammad Abbas Uddin,¹

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Nasima Akter,² Mala Reberio,¹ Merina Movis¹

¹Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery, Bangladesh
²Lecturer, Fouzderhat Nursing College Chattogram, Bangladesh

Correspondence: Mohammad Abbas Uddin, Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Received: May 18, 2025 | Published: May 30, 2025

Citation: Uddin MA, Akter N, Reberio M. et al. Development of nurse teachers’ dedication scale. MOJ Gerontol Ger. 2025;10(2):29‒32. DOI: 10.15406/mojgg.2025.10.00336

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Abstract

Nurse teachers are an essential part of the nursing education workforce. They teach, guide, inspire, evaluate, and emotionally support their students in formal educational and practical settings. Therefore, the dedication of nurse teachers plays a crucial role in preparing the future nursing workforce for the healthcare system.

This study aimed to develop a scale for measuring nurse teachers’ dedication. The study participants were 30 nurses working in different nursing colleges in Bangladesh. Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale items were developed by analyzing existing literature on dedication, teachers’ dedication, work engagement, and teachers’ professional engagement. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were tested for internal consistency reliability using the IBM SPSS program. The proposed 25 items instrument was found to be a reliable scale for measuring nurse teachers’ dedication with an internal consistency reliability level of .94 (Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient). The study’s findings are considered transferable to other developing countries. The scale can be used to assess nurse teachers’ dedication towards the nursing profession in Bangladesh and other developing countries and can support initiatives to increase nurse teachers’ dedication.

Keywords: nurse teachers’ dedication

Introduction

Dedication is the willingness to devote substantial time and energy to something.¹ Nurse teachers inspire, teach, and guide nursing students in both practical and formal educational settings, shaping the future of nursing care.² Nurse teachers’ role is to enhance nursing students’ learning and professional development and prepare educated and innovative nurses for the future.^3,4 Nursing students believe that teaching and supervision by nurse teachers in practical settings should include learning assessment, inculcating theoretical and practical knowledge, understanding the student’s role, and giving emotional support.⁵ Therefore, nurse teachers’ dedication is very significant to nursing education. To assess nurse teachers’ dedication, a suitable measurement scale is important. The literature review revealed several useful measurement scales. In Nigeria, Olohundare SK (2020) developed the Assessment of Teachers’ Dedication, Discipline, Skills and Knowledge Questionnaire, a 20-item questionnaire consisting of four domains: teachers’ level of dedication, discipline, skills, and knowledge. Each domain was measured by 5 items.⁶ Teachers’ dedication items were on teachers’ lesson notes, teachers’ punctuality, students’ understanding of lessons, keeping detailed records of students, and paying attention to difficulties preventing students from learning effectively. Teachers’ discipline items were on arriving and leaving school at appropriate times and not bullying students. Teachers’ skills items focused on communication, interpersonal skills, time management, and student assessment. Teachers’ knowledge items were teachers’ subjective knowledge, understanding of students’ differences, use of suitable approaches to impart knowledge, classroom management, and selection of appropriate instructional resources. Kozikoğlu and Senemoğlu (2018) developed the Teachers Professional Engagement Scale,⁷ a Turkish questionnaire spanning three domains: commitment to the profession (8 items), dedication to students (8 items), and dedication to work (4 items). Schaufeli et al (2002) developed the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale,⁸ consisting of three dimensions: vigor (6 items), dedication (5 items), and absorption (6 items). Schaufeli et al (2006) refined the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale into 9 items,⁹ with three items for dedication measurement. Kerdtip and Inmonthian (2023) developed a questionnaire to measure secondary school teachers’ relationships, gratitude, dedication, and determination.¹⁰ In that study, dedication was measured via 6 items: (1) allocation of work, (2) income sufficiency, (3) belief in the rights, benefits, and quality of basic life, (4) work and waking-up habits, (5) prioritizing work, and (6) individual health care. Dedication items’ internal consistency reliabilities were tested separately, but relationship, gratitude, dedication, and determination reliabilities were 0.94 (Cronbach’s Alpha). In summary, despite the existence of the above scales, there remain few specific and suitable scales for measuring nurse teachers’ dedication. This study aims to develop a suitable measurement scale to measure nurse teachers’ dedication.

Methods

To develop the Bangladeshi Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale, the four studies referred to above were reviewed. From this review and a consideration of Bangladeshi cultural context, 25 scale items were identified. Content validity was assessed by three nurse experts. The original English questionnaire was translated into Bengali using the back translation method.¹¹ The Bengali version of the questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were collected by a research assistant who was informed about the study’s aims and data collection methods. Informed consent was obtained from the participants before data collection. The participants were 30 nurse teachers working in different nursing colleges. The completeness of the questionnaire was checked by the research assistant. Data were analyzed using the SPSS program. Descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage were used to analyze participants’ demographic data, and nurse teachers’ dedication items’ internal consistency reliability was assessed via internal consistency reliability test.

Instruments

This study used a self-administered questionnaire, developed by the investigator, based on existing literature on dedication, teachers’ dedication, work engagement, and teachers’ professional engagement. The questionnaire had two parts. Part 1 was the Participant Demographic Information of six items: age, gender, religion, marital status, highest professional educational degree, and length of work experience. Part 2 was the Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale in which participants reported on their dedication across 25 items which assessed different feelings and behaviors: (1) feeling proud to work in teaching, (2) being prepared to provide teaching, (3) studying relevant topics to support teaching, (4) studying relevant cases to support clinical teaching, (5) preparing lesson plans for teaching sessions, (6) using modern teaching methods, (7) using multiple approaches in teaching, (8) sharing teaching experiences with colleagues, (9) practicing to improve teaching methods, (10) participating in events to improve teaching skills, (11) being friendly with students during teaching sessions, (12) monitoring and managing time, (13) controlling the class, (14) using real examples, (15) using simple and familiar words, (16) demonstrating respect for students, (17) identifying factors that make teaching difficult, (18) providing extra time, (19) treating all students equally, (20) presenting difficult topics in simple ways, (21) using question-and-answer sessions, (22) summarizing the lessons’ topic(s) at the end of teaching sessions, (23) using body language, (24) encouraging students to actively participate in teaching sessions, and (25) establishing relationships with students. Each item was reported using a 4-point Likert scale (0 to 3). Possible total scores ranged from 0 to 75. Total scores of 0 to 25 have been interpreted as reflecting low dedication, 26 to 50 reflecting moderate dedication, and 51 to 75 reflecting high dedication to nurse teaching.

Results

Demographic information (Table 1)

Characteristics	Categories	Frequency (%)
Age	31-45 years	15 (50)
(Min=31,Max=57, Mean=46.67)	46-57 years	15 (50)
Gender	Male	4 (13.3)
	Female	26 (86.7)
Religion	Islam	26 (86.7)
	Hindu	3 (10)
	Christian	1 (3.3)
Marital status	Married	30 (100)
Professional educational qualification	Master of Public Health	20 (66.66)
	Master of Science in Nursing	10 (33.33)
Job Experiences	10-20 years	13 (43)
	Above 20	17 (57)

Table 1 Demographic information of nurses (n = 30)

The participants’ mean age was 46.67 years. The minimum age was 31 years and the maximum age was 57 years. Most (86.7%) were female, most Muslim (86.7%) and all married (100.00%). All participants’ professional designation was Senior Staff Nurse and 57.00% had more than 20 years of work experience. All participants were qualified at master’s level; two-thirds held a Master of Public Health degree, while one-third had a Master of Science in Nursing degree.

Reliability of the nurse teachers’ dedication scale

The Nurses Teachers’ Dedication Scale was tested for internal consistency reliability. The SPSS program was used to analyze the data. The completeness of the data was checked after it was entered in the SPSS. All 25 items were entered into the SPSS program and analyzed. The result was a Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient of 0.94 (Tables 2-4).

No	Item	No	Little	Some	Much
1.	I feel proud to work in teaching	0	1	2	3
2.	I am prepared to provide teaching	0	1	2	3
3.	I study relevant topics to support my teaching	0	1	2	3
4.	I study relevant cases to support my clinical teaching	0	1	2	3
5.	I prepare lesson plans for my teaching sessions	0	1	2	3
6.	I use modern teaching methods	0	1	2	3
7.	I use multiple approaches when teaching	0	1	2	3
8.	I share my teaching experiences with colleagues	0	1	2	3
9.	I practice to improve my teaching methods	0	1	2	3
10.	I participate in events to improve my teaching skills	0	1	2	3
11.	I am friendly with students during teaching sessions	0	1	2	3
12.	I monitor and manage time when teaching	0	1	2	3
13.	I control the class when teaching	0	1	2	3
14.	I use real examples when teaching	0	1	2	3
15.	I use simple and familiar words when teaching	0	1	2	3
16.	I demonstrate respect for students when teaching	0	1	2	3
17.	I identify factors that make teaching difficult	0	1	2	3
18.	I provide extra time (out of schedule) for teaching	0	1	2	3
19.	I treat all students equally when teaching	0	1	2	3
20.	I present difficult topics in simple ways when teaching	0	1	2	3
21.	I use question-and-answer sessions when teaching	0	1	2	3
22.	I summarize the lessons’ topic(s) at the end of teaching sessions	0	1	2	3
23.	I use body language to support my teaching	0	1	2	3
24.	I encourage students to actively participate in teaching sessions	0	1	2	3
25.	I establish relationships with students when teaching	0	1	2	3

Table 2 Twenty-five (25) items of the nurse teachers’ dedication scale

Reliability
Cronbach’s Alpha	Cronbach’s alpha based on standardized items	N of Items
0.94	0.945	25

Table 3 Reliability of the nurse teachers’ dedication scale

No	Item	Mean	Std. Deviation	N
1.	I feel proud to work in teaching	2.7	0.65126	30
2.	I am prepared to provide teaching	2.5667	0.56832	30
3.	I study relevant topics to support my teaching	2.6333	0.55605	30
4.	I study relevant cases to support my clinical teaching	2.3667	0.66868	30
5.	I prepare lesson plans for my teaching sessions	2.4	0.72397	30
6.	I use modern teaching methods	2.6333	0.55605	30
7.	I use multiple approaches when teaching	2.3	0.65126	30
8.	I share my teaching experiences with colleagues	2.1333	0.81931	30
9.	I practice to improve my teaching methods	2.5333	0.68145	30
10.	I participate in events to improve my teaching skills	2.2667	0.69149	30
11.	I am friendly with students during teaching sessions	2.6667	0.54667	30
12.	I monitor and manage time when teaching	2.5667	0.77385	30
13.	I control the class when teaching	2.6667	0.54667	30
14.	I use real examples when teaching	2.5667	0.67891	30
15.	I use simple and familiar words when teaching	2.7	0.65126	30
16.	I demonstrate respect for students when teaching	2.6	0.72397	30
17.	I identify factors that make teaching difficult	2.2333	0.77385	30
18.	I provide extra time (out of schedule) for teaching	1.9	0.99481	30
19.	I treat all students equally when teaching	2.6	0.77013	30
20.	I present difficult topics in simple ways when teaching	2.6	0.62146	30
21.	I use question and answer sessions when teaching	2.4333	0.72793	30
22.	I summarize the lessons’ topic(s) at the end of teaching sessions	2.4667	0.7303	30
23.	I use body language to support my teaching	2.6	0.85501	30
24.	I encourage students to actively participate in teaching sessions	2.8333	0.37905	30
25.	I establish relationships with students when teaching	2.6667	0.60648	30

Table 4 Item analysis statistics of the nurse teachers’ dedication scale

*Significant (P≤0.05); ^NSNot significant (P>0.05)

Discussion

A suitable measurement scale must be valid and reliable. This scale’s content validity was checked by three experts. This study also had a high internal consistency reliability coefficient value of 0.94 (Cronbach’s Alpha). This is equivalent to Kerdtip and Inmonthian’s dedication measurement items (0.94)¹⁰ and higher than the Assessment of Teachers’ Dedication, Discipline, Skills and Knowledge Questionnaire (0.80),⁶ the Teachers Professional Engagement Scale reliability (0.90),⁷and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (0.93).⁸

There are inconsistencies between samples used for the previously developed scales^6–10 and the Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale. First, all of the Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale’s sample were nurses. However, the Assessment of Teachers’ Dedication, Discipline, Skills and Knowledge Questionnaire sample were head teachers, assistant head teachers, principals and vice principals and students; the Teachers Professional Engagement Scale’s sample were novice primary, secondary, and high school teachers; the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale’s sample were farmers, managers, white collar workers, military police officers, blue collar workers, physicians, nurses, home care staff, salvation army officers, hospital staff, civil servants, university staff, paramedics, police officers, teachers, social workers, and psychologists; and the Kerdtip and Inmonthian dedication measurement items development sample were secondary school teachers. There are also inconsistencies between the measurement items used in aforementioned studies.^5–10

Conclusion

The 25-item Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale is a self-reporting questionnaire that measures Bangladeshi nurse teachers’ expressed dedication towards nursing teaching. To develop the scale, investigators used an adequate number of samples to collect data. The psychometric properties of the scale were confirmed through assessment of content validity, back-translation, consideration of cultural context, and data analysis to confirm internal consistency reliability using the IBM SPSS program. The Nurse Teachers’ Dedication Scale is therefore a reliable scale to measure nurse teachers’ dedication towards nursing teaching.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the study participants for their participation and the research assistants for their support throughout the process. They also express appreciation to the experts who confirmed content validity, cultural appropriateness, and back-translation, and to Andy Babb for his editing support.