Institute for NP Excellence, LLC, Augusta, Georgia.
Freelance Editor/Copyreader, Gilbert, Arizona.
J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2020 Oct;32(10):696-702. doi: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000408.
Autonomy in practice is an important attribute of all professions and a cornerstone of advanced nursing practice. The Dempster Practice Behavior Scale was conceptualized, constructed, and psychometrically tested to make available a generalizable, empirically sound, and useful tool capable of measuring previously unrecognized dimensions of autonomy in practice. Nurse practitioner (NP) practice continues to evolve as new models of care emerge, requiring more autonomy in the NP role.
The purpose was to describe the development and psychometric testing of the Dempster Practice Behavior Scale (DPBS), review the extant research on its use in research on nursing and other professions, and determine where future research is needed on the concept of autonomy in professional practice with a focus on advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs).
Research articles, theses, dissertations using the DPBS as an instrument to measure practice autonomy were reviewed.
Twenty-one unique publications were examined for reports of psychometric properties in various populations. For the APRN population (total N = 1,669 in 10 studies), psychometrics for the DPBS support the reliability of the instrument for research. The remaining 11 studies included 2,285 participants who were not APRNs.
Questions remain about the relationships between autonomy and external factors such as regulatory environment, practice setting, models of care, years of experience, and practice mix.
实践自主性是所有专业的一个重要属性，也是高级护理实践的基石。Dempster 实践行为量表是为了提供一个可推广、经验证、有用的工具而概念化、构建和心理测试的，该工具能够测量实践自主性以前未被识别的维度。随着新的护理模式的出现，护士从业者（NP）的实践继续发展，要求 NP 角色更加自主。
描述 Dempster 实践行为量表（DPBS）的开发和心理测试，回顾其在护理和其他专业研究中的使用的现有研究，并确定未来在专业实践自主性概念上需要进行哪些研究，重点是高级实践注册护士（APRNs）。
研究文章、论文、使用 DPBS 作为工具来衡量实践自主性的论文被审查。
对 21 篇具有独特出版物进行了检查，报告了各种人群中的心理测量特性。对于 APRN 人群（10 项研究中共有 1669 名），DPBS 的心理测量学支持该工具在研究中的可靠性。其余 11 项研究包括 2285 名非 APRN 参与者。
关于自主性与外部因素（如监管环境、实践环境、护理模式、工作年限和实践组合）之间的关系仍存在疑问。
