Psychometric evaluation of the Turkish version of the nurses' perception of the gap between knowledge and practice scale

Background: Progress in the nursing profession and clinical decision-making are largely sustained by the coherence between theory and practice. The quality of healthcare provided by nurses and patient outcomes are adversely impacted by the gap between knowledge and practice. Measurement tools used to assess nurses' perceptions of this gap are inadequate in Türkiye. This research aimed to adapt the nurses' perception of the gap between knowledge and practice scale into Turkish and to evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods: The study, in which a methodological design was employed, was conducted with 406 nurses between March and June 2022. A descriptive information form and the nurses' perception of the gap between knowledge and practice scale (NPGKPS) were employed to gather data. The validity study included content and construct validity analyses, and the reliability study included item analysis, split-half test, and Cronbach alpha coefficients. Results: The scale had 35 items and four dimensions, which explained 54.65% of the total variance. The goodness of fit values, which were found following a confirmatory factor analysis, were estimated as follows: CMIN = 1808.984, DF = 512, CMIN/DF = 3.533, IFI = 0.89, TLI = 0.87, RFI = 0.83, CFI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.079, and NFI = 0.86. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the total scale was estimated as 0.95 and it was in the range of 0.84 to 0.93 for four factors. Conclusion: In conclusion, the nurses' perception of the gap between knowledge and practice scale was a reliable and valid measure which could be applied to Turkish society.