Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Professional Practice Environment (RPPE) Scale

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to examine the psychometric properties of the Revised Professional Practice Environment (RPPE) scale. BACKGROUND: Despite renewed focus on studying health professionals' practice environments, there are still few reliable and valid instruments available to assist nurse administrators in decision making. METHODS: A psychometric evaluation using a random-sample cross-validation procedure (calibration sample CS, n = 775; validation sample VS, n = 775) was undertaken. RESULTS: Cronbach alpha internal consistency reliability of the total score (r = 0.93 CS and 0.92 VS), resulting subscale scores (r range: 0.80-0.87 CS, 0.81-0.88 VS), and principal components analyses with Varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization (8 components, 59.2% variance CS, 59.7% VS) produced almost identical results in both samples. CONCLUSIONS: The multidimensional RPPE is a psychometrically sound measure of 8 components of the professional practice environment in the acute care setting and sufficiently reliable and valid for use as independent subscales in healthcare research.