Development of the Scale of Humanistic Nursing Behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and theoretically based scale to measure the degree of humanistic health care in hospital settings as perceived by nursing personnel. Howard's (1975) theoretical model of dimensions pertinent to the domain of humanistic care was used to structure the scale. The dimensions are irreplaceability, holistic selves, freedom of action, status equality, shared decision making and responsibility, empathy, and positive affect. A 163-item scale reflective of Howard's dimensions was developed and distributed to 316 nursing personnel employed in four hospitals which included public, private, community, and university-affiliated health care facilities. Rigorous application of reliability and validity indexes yielded a final scale of 70 items measuring four dimensions: shared decision making and responsibility, holistic selves, status equality, and empathy. The Scale of Humanistic Nursing Behaviors can be used both as a diagnostic aid and as an instructional device.