Translation and psychometric testing of the Icelandic version of the MISSCARE Survey.

Background: Missed nursing care, required standard care that is not provided, is a relatively new concept in nursing, and prior to this study, it had not been discussed in Iceland.

Aim: To successfully translate the MISSCARE Survey from US English to Icelandic.

Method: The translation and psychometric testing of the MISSCARE Survey-Icelandic was completed in six steps: (1) forward translation, (2) revision of the translation, (3) back-translation, (4) revision of the back-translation, (5) pilot-testing, (6) data collection and psychometric testing. Back-translation included work of linguists, clinicians and scholars in the original and target country. Psychometric testing was completed on data from a pilot-test and a national study. The target population was nursing staff providing patient care in medical, surgical and intensive care units in hospitals in Iceland. Pilot study data were collected in November-December 2011, and data for the national study were collected in March-April 2012. The MISSCARE Survey asks about missed nursing care activities (part A), and reasons for missed nursing care (part B), besides demographic and background questions.

Results: Response rate for the pilot study was 57% (67/118), and for the national study, it was 69% (599/864) with good acceptability. Overall test-retest Pearson's correlation coefficient for part A was 0.782 (p < 0.001) and 0.530 (p < 0.05) for part B. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for the overall part B and subscales ranged from 0.795-0.894. Confirmatory factor analysis for part B indicated a good model fit to the three factors: Communication, Material resources and Labour resources.

Conclusion: The MISSCARE Survey was successfully translated from US English to Icelandic, using a stringent back-translation method. The Icelandic version tested reliable and valid. This study supports global use of the MISSCARE Survey.