Cross-cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Hess Index of Professional Nursing Governance for Chinese Nurses

OBJECTIVE: To culturally adapt and assess the psychometric properties of the Hess Index of Professional Nursing Governance 3.0 (IPNG) among nurses in China. BACKGROUND: Shared governance is a structural professional practice model beneficial to both nurses and patients. The IPNG is a widely recognized tool for measuring professional nursing governance, but no psychometrically validated version currently exists for China. METHODS: This cross-sectional study employed a rigorous 5-stage adaptation process. A convenience sample of 1,023 Chinese nurses was recruited. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and other psychometric properties were assessed. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis revealed a new 6-factor structure for the Chinese version of the IPNG (C-IPNG), which differed from the original. This new model was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis with an acceptable fit. The C-IPNG demonstrated strong reliability, with a Cronbach α of 0.976, a scale-level CVI/Ave of 0.960, and a test-retest correlation coefficient of 0.856. CONCLUSIONS: The C-IPNG is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing professional nursing governance in the Chinese context.