Validation of student academic advising and counseling evaluation tool among undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Background: Academic advising and counseling services support students in achieving their educational outcomes. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on academic advising and student-support systems among nursing students. Therefore, the current study aims to develop a student academic advising and counseling survey (SAACS) and measure its validity and reliability. Methods: Cross-sectional design was used to collect online self-administered data from undergraduate nursing students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The SAACS is developed based on relevant literature and tested for content and construct validity. Results: A total of 1,134 students from both sites completed the questionnaire. Students’ mean age was 20.3 ± 1.4, and the majority of them were female (81.9%), single (95.6%), and unemployed (92.3%). The content validity index (CVI) of SAACS overall score (S-CVI) is 0.989, and S-CVI/UA (universal agreement) is 0.944, which indicates excellent content validity. The overall SAACS reliability showed an excellent internal consistency with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.966 – 0.972). Conclusions: The SAACS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing students’ experience with academic advising and counseling services and can be utilized to improve those services in nursing school settings.