Measuring individualised care

Abstract

Scale construction is a complex procedure. There must be firm evidence of the need for developing an instrument to measure a particular phenomenon important to nursing practice. This chapter outlines the development of the Individualised Care Scales (ICS), both the patient and nurse versions. A detailed explanation of the process for developing the ICS-Patient version will be given using the existing literature. Methodological references have been updated for researcher purposes. Furthermore, this chapter gives an overview of the use of the instrument in several international collaborative studies as well as in national studies. A variety of researchers have used the ICS and produced different translations and adaptations of the scales. This chapter may help those who may use the instrument in the future to understand the development process.